Kayla Harrison’s planned title defense at UFC 324 was derailed by a far more serious fight happening outside the cage, as her manager revealed the champion may have risked paralysis if she had continued training without undergoing urgent neck surgery.
The stunning disclosure casts new light on Harrison’s withdrawal from her scheduled showdown with Amanda Nunes, turning what was initially viewed as a major championship setback into a potentially career, and life, saving decision.
“Listen, this has been going on for a long time. Kayla has not been 100 percent for the last three years, since the PFL days. She’s always had tingling, but she just… she couldn’t lift her arm and she literally got an injection, a whole bunch of medicine, anti-inflammatory, nothing worked,” Ali Abdelaziz told MMAFighting.
“The UFC flew her to New York and the doctor said immediately she needs to get surgery, because if she doesn’t get surgery, this can paralyze her.”
Abdelaziz said Harrison’s pain went away immediately after the surgery, calling it an instant relief. He added that the procedure was necessary to prevent the injury from worsening, and that her long-term health had to come before any fight opportunity.
“The UFC flew her to New York and the doctor said immediately she needs to get surgery, because if she doesn’t get surgery, this can paralyze her. The disc [was] pushing on the spinal cord. But then I’m going to tell you something, immediately after the surgery, all the pain is gone,” he said.
“And listen, I feel for her, too because she put a lot of time and effort into this, and in a way, Kayla was gutted. She was heartbroken. I still support her decision, 100 percent because if you go in and lose, [and] you were not the best fighter, that’s OK. But if you go in and lose because you’re injured, [it] will haunt her for the rest of her life.”
The fight between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes has been postponed with no date announced as of yet.
