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The two most dominant fighters in women's MMA are almost certainly Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison. Nunes is the reigning UFC champion in the women's featherweight and bantamweight divisions, while Harrison is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the undefeated PFL champion in the women's lightweight division.
Rarely do two MMA fighters at the absolute peak of their powers cross paths to determine the true owner of combat sports supremacy. Despite Dana White's aversion to cross-promotional bouts, it has been done in the past with Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and it would certainly be necessary for a bout between Nunes and Harrison, given the latter's current PFL contract.
Prior to Amanda Nunes' stunning upset loss to Julianna Peña at UFC 269, interest in a matchup between the Brazilian great and the most dominant force in the women’s lightweight division was at an all-time high.
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While the bout lost some of its luster due to Nunes' shocking loss, her dominant victory in the ensuing rematch at UFC 277 between her and 'The Venezuelan Vixen' reignited fan interest in the clash. Nunes lent credence to her claim that Peña's win over her was nothing more than a fluke, so a bout with Harrison is once again on the table.
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With Nunes firmly re-established as the greatest female fighter of all-time (a title that Harrison claims to want for herself), a bout between the two makes more sense now than ever before. This list details the 5 reasons why.
#5. Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison lack contenders
The list of opponents Amanda Nunes has defeated includes Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, Holly Holm, Cris Cyborg, Germaine de Randamie, and Julianna Peña. All but Shevchenko, who currently reigns as the UFC women's flyweight champion, are former UFC champions.
Thus, Nunes has defeated every women's bantamweight and featherweight champion in UFC history. She has no contenders to face at featherweight due to the lack of contenders in the division — in addition to this, Nunes possesses no believable contenders at bantamweight due to defeating almost every major fighter in the weight class. The Brazilian is dangerously close to a position where she'll have to rematch opponents she's already beaten.
Kayla Harrison, by contrast, is fighting in a division with few elite contenders. While she is impressive and has been nothing but dominant, the lack of competition she's faced leaves her with almost no compelling matchups outside of Nunes.
Now is the time for both women to cross paths. While a bout with Cris Cyborg is fairly interesting for Harrison, a matchup with Nunes is more intriguing given 'The Lioness's victory over Cyborg.
#4. The UFC can assert its superiority over other promotions
UFC President Dana White is eager to maintain his promotion's position as the top MMA organization in the world. Thus, making other promotions look lesser than by comparison is in his and the UFC's best interest. A bout between Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison would be more than capable of accomplishing that.
Ben Askren's poor record in the UFC helped reinforce White's assertion that the UFC is the world's premier MMA promotion. 'Funky' was once an undefeated fighter who had won championships in Bellator and ONE, two of the UFC's rival organizations.
Similarly, Amanda Nunes' dominant victory over Cris Cyborg, the former Invicta FC world featherweight champion and current Bellator women's featherweight champion, helped strengthen the UFC's claim.
Were Nunes to defeat Harrison, the UFC would further strengthen its hold on the MMA market by convincing fight fans that all top-level fighters compete in the UFC.
#3. There is a built-in storyline
This is not the 1st time that a matchup between Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison has been discussed. Prior to the Olympic and world champion judoka's decision to re-sign with the PFL, the bout was one of the main lures the UFC chose to dangle in front of her.
Furthermore, Harrison has repeatedly expressed her desire to establish herself as the greatest combat sports athlete of all time: a feat she cannot accomplish without besting Nunes. Additionally, the reigning PFL women's lightweight champion was in attendance for Amanda Nunes' initial clash with Julianna Peña at UFC 269.
Perhaps most significantly, Harrison trained alongside Nunes at American Top Team, leaving the Brazilian uncomfortable and prompting her to change gyms due to the strange atmosphere caused by the situation. The built-in storyline, in addition to the competitive merits of the matchup, will render it easy for the UFC to market.
#2. The world will finally know how good Kayla Harrison is
There's a general feeling that Kayla Harrison is still, somehow, a newcomer in MMA. While the American's professional MMA career only began 4 years ago, she has taken part in 14 fights. Furthermore, she is a former world champion judoka and has won 2 Olympic gold medals in the martial art she has trained in since her childhood.
Unfortunately, Harrison suffers from a division starved for high-level competition. While she's been dominant in every single MMA bout she's had thus far, the reigning PFL women's lightweight champion is bereft of highly skilled opposition. Admittedly, this is through no fault of her own, as there are few women who compete in her current weight class.
As a result, fight fans across the globe are unable to gauge the true extent of Harrison's abilities as a mixed martial artist due to the poor strength of her competition.
A bout with Amanda Nunes would quickly reveal just how good Kayla Harrison truly is. If she's victorious, the UFC will likely have another star judoka on their hands to fill the void left by Ronda Rousey.
#1. Claressa Shields isn't ready
The only other intriguing matchup for both Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison is a bout with world champion boxer Claressa Shields. Like Harrison, Shields made the jump to MMA with a point to prove. She wanted to solidify herself as the greatest female fighter of all-time, something she felt she'd be unable to do if she only stuck to boxing.
A matchup between Shields and Amanda Nunes was brought up during a TMZ interview with the latter. The Brazilian was probed for her thoughts on Shields' desire to face her in the future, prompting her to dismiss the world champion boxer's prospects of even amassing enough wins to sign with the UFC.
Claressa Shields signed with the PFL, and there was almost immediately fan interest in a potential future bout between her and Kayla Harrison. That interest all but vanished when Shields suffered a split-decision loss to Abigail Montes, whose record sits at 3 wins and 2 losses.
With Shields far from ready for better competition, even in the PFL, neither Amanda Nunes nor Kayla Harrison, both of whom are in their thirties, can afford to wait for Shields to continue improving her skill-set. The only superfight in women's MMA in the foreseeable future is Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison.
