Kayla Harrison’s Targeted Return Date Revealed

At the beginning of 2026, Kayla Harrison was forced out of her scheduled title defense against the returning former titleholder Amanda Nunes due to an injury to her neck, but now it seems her training has ramped up, and she is planning a return at UFC 334 in November.

UFC 334 will take place inside Madison Square Garden in New York on November 14th. Originally, the hope was that Tom Aspinall would make his return in the headlining slot of UFC 334 to defend the heavyweight title. But unfortunately, he suffered a setback in recovering his damaged vision and opted to relinquish his title instead.

Now, the UFC has pivoted to another potentially returning champion in Harrison, who underwent emergency surgery for a cervical spine injury in January, which has led to a slow and patient recovery process. Harrison has now been out of the octagon for over 14-months, with her last appearance against Julianna Peña resulting in a victory by second-round submission to earn the bantamweight title.

Anderson Franca, a Muay Thai trainer at American Top Team and one of Harrison’s striking coaches, revealed the news of the women’s 135-pound champion returning to action in an interview on Friday, and while nothing is confirmed at this time, the optics of the situation seem positive.

“Her injury was very serious. She had to undergo surgery and spent several months unable to train, but she made a great recovery and, three weeks ago, returned to full training for the fight, which is expected to take place Nov. 14 in New York,”