Amanda Nunes may have harmed her chances against Kayla Harrison before the pair even step into the Octagon, according to former UFC champion Henry Cejudo.
Nunes will return from retirement to challenge Harrison for the bantamweight title at UFC 324 on January 24, but Cejudo believes she made one major mistake: skipping a tune-up fight.
Speaking on Jorge Masvidal’s Death Row MMA podcast, Cejudo said a warm-up bout was essential for Nunes after nearly three years away.
“When I fought Aljo after a three-year layoff, you forget what a five-round fight feels like,” Cejudo explained. He added that Harrison, a two-time Olympic judo champion who has looked dominant in all three of her UFC fights, is not someone to return against cold: “That s— is different, man.”
Instead of easing back in, Nunes will jump straight into a title fight against her former training partner.
The matchup also carries huge legacy implications. Harrison has said that beating Nunes — widely considered the women’s GOAT — and then defeating flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko later in 2026 would make her the greatest female fighter of all time, even if only “for a finite period.”
For Harrison, becoming the GWOAT starts with defeating the current one. For Nunes, the test is whether she can come back at championship level without the tune-up Cejudo insists she needed.
