UFC bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison has opened up about the excruciating pain that forced her to undergo neck surgery just two weeks before her scheduled superfight against Amanda Nunes.
Harrison was forced to withdraw from the highly anticipated matchup at UFC 324 last January and has spent much of 2026 recovering from the procedure. With the bout now rescheduled for UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden in New York next month, the champion detailed the severity of her condition during an appearance on the Deep Waters podcast on Monday.
According to Harrison, her symptoms became unbearable in the final days leading up to the fight, leaving her struggling to move her arm and get a decent night's sleep.
“You have to remember, I was trying to make it to my fight. So, this is two weeks before I'm supposed to fight Amanda, I can't lift my arm, I'm getting lightning bolts, the last five days, I think I slept maybe, like, three hours because I would fall asleep and then the lightning bolts (would begin),” Harrison said.
The former Olympic gold medalist described the experience as the worst pain she had ever endured, explaining that she was initially focused on finding a way to make it to fight night.
“Worst pain ever. No, it's the worst pain ever,” she added.
Eventually, the UFC instructed Harrison to travel to New York for further medical evaluation. After reviewing her condition, the doctor determined that surgery was necessary immediately, leaving the fighter with little choice but to prioritize her health over the upcoming bout.
“So finally, UFC was like, ‘Go to New York.’ I flew to New York. The doctor looked at all the stuff. He was like, ‘Yeah, you need surgery now…when do you want to have it?’ And I was like, ‘I mean, as soon as possible!’” Harrison recalled.
Harrison also revealed that she was alone in New York when she prepared for the procedure, with events moving quickly after the doctor's assessment.
“So I was in New York by myself. I Ubered to the hospital the next day at six. He was like, I'll see you at 6 a.m. tomorrow. I didn't even know they were going to go through (with surgery). I didn't know anything,” she explained.
At that point, Harrison's priority was no longer making it to the fight but finding relief from the debilitating pain and beginning the recovery process as quickly as possible.
“I was just like, get me out of pain and like, get me on the road to recovery as fast as you can,” she said.
