Kayla Harrison‘s manager says she had no choice but to withdraw from UFC 324.
UFC bantamweight champion Harrison (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) pulled out of Saturday’s co-main event against Amanda Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+) after sustaining a neck injury that required surgery to fix a pair of herniated disks.
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Harrison’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA, revealed that she hasn’t been 100 percent for the past three years.
“She couldn’t lift her arm, and she literally went and got an injection, whole bunch of medicine, anti-inflammatory, nothing worked,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “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.”
More: Kayla Harrison delivers tearful video statement on UFC 324 withdrawal
The UFC plans to postpone the Nunes fight to a later date. Nunes, a former UFC two-division champion, was coming out of retirement to fight Harrison in what many considered the greatest women’s fight of all time. Nunes said she has no intentions of competing for a potential interim belt in the meantime and plans on waiting for Harrison.
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“I’m sorry to all of the fans who missed out on this fight, but Amanda Nunes is not going anywhere,” Abdelaziz said. “She probably needed a little bit more time. I feel for her, too, because she put a lot of time, 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 because you were not the best fighter, it’s OK. But if you go in and lose because you’re injured, it will haunt her for the rest of her life.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Manager: Kayla Harrison risked being paralyzed without surgery
