Amanda Nunes is expected to return from retirement to face former teammate Kayla Harrison for UFC gold, and an American Top Team prospect is curious to see how the two bantamweights will fare inside the octagon.
Nunes left ATT when Harrison climbed to the top of the lightweight division under the PFL banner, admitting she didn’t feel “safe” under the same roof in Florida. Nunes eventually ended her career in 2023 as a two-division UFC queen, and Harrison parted ways with PFL as two-time champion to go on and conquer the belt that once belonged to Nunes.
With Nunes back in the sport for such a legacy fight, some wonder if that could end up being Harrison’s final appearance in MMA. Former LFA bantamweight champion and UFC Rio newcomer Bia Mesquita, who trains with Harrison on a daily basis at American Top Team in Florida, doesn’t think that’s the case.
“I think for her this fight with Amanda is gonna be one of like her biggest goals in her career, but I don’t think she’s done yet,” Mesquita told MMA Fighting. “Kayla has such a big fire inside of her, she goes every day to train. That’s very inspiring because she’s already an Olympic champion, she won PFL title twice, and now she’s the UFC champion, but she’s still there every day chasing her biggest and best version every single day. And fighting Amanda is going to be one of her goals. But I don’t think she’s going to be done yet. I hear that she wants to fight at the White House. So for sure another fight.”
More than beating a Hall of Famer in Nunes, Mesquita hopes that Harrison eventually re-opens the featherweight division to chase another UFC belt — and clears the path for her at 135 pounds.
“I hope [Harrison] can make it because it’s just so good when we see women opening a lot of doors for other girls that are coming up, and I think she has that potential,” Mesquita said. “Maybe open again the 145 division, move up and leave the 135 for me [laughs]. And then we can both be champions.”
Harrison won 19 of 20 MMA bouts since her debut in 2018, eight by submission, and tapped out Holly Holm and Julianna Peña to win two of her three UFC fights. Nunes, 23-5 as a pro, is a black belt in jiu-jitsu but scored the vast majority of her wins by knockout (13). Win or lose in her return from retirement, Nunes’ place in MMA history is already secured.
“[Nunes] opened a lot of doors,” Mesquita said. “She’s the only woman that has two titles, 135 and 145. She made her history and nothing’s gonna change. Doesn’t matter what’s gonna happen on this next fight. I’m happy that she’s gonna come back because fans miss watching her fight. But her history is made. Her name is there forever. And I’m very glad that she opened all the doors that I’m taking advantage right now.”
The UFC has yet to announce a date for the planned match between Harrison and Nunes.
On the same night Mesquita makes her octagon debut, however, another teammate of hers is featured on the main event when Mateusz Gamrot takes on Charles Oliveira. The jiu-jitsu legend expects an “amazing fight” despite the short notice aspect of it, with Gamrot replacing Rafael Fiziev on less than a month’s notice.
Mesquita is one of the greatest competitors in jiu-jitsu history and remains undefeated in MMA with a record of 5-0, including a bantamweight title win at LFA to lead to a deal with the UFC. Her debut goes down Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, facing Irina Alekseeva.
“My heart is divided with a teammate and one of the biggest names of martial arts,” Mesquita said. “Charles, I’m like a big fan of him, of everything he did in MMA, especially being a grappler, all those submissions that made us go crazy during his whole career.
“But Gamrot is also ready to go because his wrestling is on point and it’s one of the best in the division. As a grappling fan, I’m really excited with this fight. This matchup, I think was the best that could happen in this last minute because Charles has the submissions attempts that like can come like right away, but Gamrot has a really good wrestling style that avoids that submission game.”
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