“If I was Kayla Harrison, I would retire from the sport” – Demetrious Johnson had some strong words for the newly crowned women’s bantamweight champion, Kayla Harrison. Johnson claimed the same while dissecting Harrison’s callout for Amanda Nunes, following her victory over Julianna Pena at UFC 316. And when the former PFL champion came across Johnson’s words, she didn’t take a step back from sending an avid response. 

According to ‘Mighty Mouse’, Nunes had already proven herself and didn’t really need to come out of retirement just to fight Harrison. It’s true that ‘The Lioness’ defeated the likes of Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm, Valentina Shevchenko, and many other strong names. On top of that, she won 11 title fights before finally opting for retirement in 2023. But as far as Harrison was concerned, the win over Pena was her 3rd bout in the UFC. Nevertheless, when Harrison came across Johnson’s words on X, she replied, “Big fan of Mighty. Bigger believer in myself.”

But that wasn’t enough, was it? The entire world was waiting for a detailed response from the bantamweight champion. And that came during a recent interview with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn. Therein, Harrison said, “Look, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. He gets paid to give his opinion. So, fair play to him. I live my life out loud, and so there’s a lot of room for people to have their own thoughts and speculate or comment on my life and my choices. But I think that it’s important for people to know that I do believe in myself, and I think it’s important for people to know that it’s OK to believe in yourself. Like, how dare you tell me to think less of me? I’m the greatest, and I’m going to prove it.”

Meanwhile, Bohn was fixated on Demetrious Johnson. Of course, being a former flyweight champion in UFC and ONE Championship, his words had quite some weight. When he claimed that it was a bit perplexing to hear someone like Johnson suggesting Harrison to retire, the bantamweight champ had to respond in kind. She said, “I’ve never met the guy. I’m a huge fan of him. I have been for a long time. I’ve always considered him – I mean, he was my GOAT for a long time. So, whatever. It’s none of my business what people think of me.”

Harrison’s strength was on full display at UFC 316. While the world was worried about her weight cut affecting her performance, she checked out Pena and became the bantamweight champion, before her endurance came under test. But what concerned the fighting community was her callout for Nunes. And among the select few who were unfazed by the challenge was her manager, Ali Abdelaziz. 

Ali Abdelaziz weighs in on Kayla Harrison fighting Amanda Nunes

The women’s bantamweight title storyline took the most anticipated turn at UFC 316. Nunes was already present cageside when Harrison called her out, as many expected the American star to do if she won. And that led to a face-off inside the cage. Talking to Submission Radio, Abdelaziz said, “When these two ladies fight, Kayla will make her quit. She made quit training, that’s why she left the gym. She left her whole team, her coaches, and everything. And because of Kayla.. Kayla was in a different promotion. And I tell you something, when I was negotiating with the UFC. Her coaches didn’t know, Dan Lambert didn’t know. I know they got accused, they are knowing, but nobody knows.”

And before the rivalry led up to a face-off inside the Octagon, Harrison and Nunes once engaged in a sparring session. During her appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Harrison recapped the incident and claimed, “It went good, she kicked my a– but one of us stopped after two rounds, so…” That’s right! Despite being the stronger one in the sparring session, ‘The Lioness’ allegedly couldn’t go beyond round 2. 

For now, the bout between Harrison and Nunes is still under a shroud of uncertainty. The reason? Nunes has yet to return to the Anti-Doping testing pool. And she must be in the pool for at least 6 months before getting a fight. Which means, we won’t get to witness the war between the sparring partners-turned-rivals anytime before 2026. Nevertheless, the new bantamweight champion exerted nothing but confidence when she responded to the words of caution from Johnson. Whose side are you on?