“The Worst Pain Ever”: Kayla Harrison Opens Up About Neck Surgery That Initially Postponed Amanda Nunes Fight

Kayla Harrison has opened up about her excruciating neck injury that forced her out of her planned UFC 324 fight with Amanda Nunes, admitting she was desperate to fight despite the pain she was in.The reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion ultimately needed emergency surgery after her condition deteriorated just two weeks before the scheduled bout.

“I can’t lift my arm. I’m getting lightning bolts,” Harrison recalled during an appearance on the Deep Waters podcast on UFC on Paramount. “The last five days, I think I slept maybe three hours because I would fall asleep and then the lightning bolts. It’s the worst pain ever.”

UFC 316 in New Jersey Kayla Harrison in blue gloves of the United States faces Julianna Pena red gloves, also American, in the womens bantamweight title fight at UFC316, held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, June7,2025. new jersey nj usa Copyright: xVANESSAxCARVALHOx

Harrison was supposed to throw down with Amanda Nunes with her bantamweight title on the line. And the hype was real. ‘The Lioness’ was preparing for her first MMA fight since hanging up her gloves in 2023, leading up to one of the biggest fights fans could have asked for. But Harrison’s neck had other plans, forcing her out of the fight and putting the blockbuster showdown on ice.

Harrison exhausted every non-surgical option before accepting the procedure. She even explored disc replacement as an alternative, but doctors ruled it out after examining her condition. She ultimately underwent a two-level spinal fusion after doctors discovered five herniated discs.

With UFC 324 getting closer, Kayla Harrison was running out of ways to tough it out. The 36-year-old desperately wanted to fight, but the pain was getting out of control. Her arm wasn’t working properly, sleep was practically nonexistent, and the clock was ticking. Eventually, the UFC sent her to New York to get checked out, and that’s when things got real.

“So finally, UFC is like, ‘Go to New York.’ I flew to New York. The doctor looked at all the stuff,” Harrison recalled. “He was like, ‘Yeah, you need surgery now. When do you want to have it?’ And I was like, ‘As soon as possible.’

“So I was in New York by myself. I Uber-ed to the hospital the next day. He was like, ‘I’ll see you at 6 a.m. tomorrow.’ I didn’t even know they were gonna go through. I didn’t know anything. I was just like, ‘Get me out of pain’ and ‘Get me on the road to recovery as fast as you can.'”

It is worth noting that Kayla Harrison wasn’t about to throw in the towel without trying almost everything first. The champion went all in on finding a way to make the Amanda Nunes fight happen.

“No, dude. I did everything to try to get to the fight,” she admitted. “Like, when I tell you, I did—well, I did. I was doing monthly stem-cell injections. I was doing PT rigorously. Then I started doing muscle relaxers. Didn’t touch it.”

After medication, physical therapy, and stem-cell injections failed to relieve her symptoms, ‘Doug’ had little choice but to undergo surgery. The procedure ended her hopes of fighting Nunes at UFC 324, but it offered her a path toward recovery.

However, Harrison’s recovery also brought its own physical and mental challenges, leaving her questioning whether she would ever feel like herself again.

Kayla Harrison feared she might never feel like herself again after surgery

Thankfully, Kayla Harrison is finally feeling like herself again, but the road back wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. The champion admitted that the early days after surgery were rough, not just physically but mentally, too. After going a full decade without surgery, suddenly facing such a serious operation had her wondering if she’d ever get back to normal.

“I feel awesome. It was, to be honest, rough at the beginning. I think more just, obviously physically, but mentally,” she admitted. “Like, it was such a big surgery, and I went ten years without having surgery. I had reconstructive knee surgery in between my two Olympics, and then I went ten years with no surgery.

“But in the last four years, I’ve had four surgeries, back to back. And this one was the most serious. And I kind of was just like, ‘Am I ever gonna be okay again?’ Like, it got to the point where I was questioning if I was ever gonna feel like myself again. But I’m back.”

If there’s one thing Kayla Harrison knows, it’s how to claw her way back from a brutal injury. ‘Doug’ has been through this before. After winning gold at the 2012 London Olympics, she needed reconstructive knee surgery, which kept her out of competition for an entire year. With the next Olympics looming, her comeback was anything but guaranteed.

But the 36-year-old wasn’t done yet. She fought her way back to the mat and went on to win a second straight Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio Games. That’s the kind of comeback she’s pulled off before, and now, with another major surgery behind her, she’ll be looking to tap into that same fighting spirit all over again.

Now, Harrison has another mountain to climb, and this time, she’s doing it as a UFC champion. After everything she’s been through, the goal is to get back in the Octagon and settle unfinished business with Amanda Nunes. The two are scheduled to go one-on-one at UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with Harrison’s bantamweight title up for grabs.

There’s plenty riding on this one. For Harrison, it’s her first fight since neck surgery, while Nunes will make her long-awaited return after retiring in 2023. And there’s an extra twist: both women have trained at American Top Team, adding another layer of intrigue to a matchup fans have been waiting to see.

Kayla Harrison isn’t coming back just to show up. She wants to beat ‘The Lioness’ and prove herself against one of the greatest women to ever compete in MMA. After months of brutal pain, surgery, and wondering if she’d ever feel normal again, the champion says she’s finally back and ready to get to work.

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