“If it’s no longer a great fit for us or them and somebody’s got to move on, we have an open-door policy,” Dan Lambert stated to MMA Junkie, Amanda Nunes left American Top Team. ‘The Lioness’ made this decision after losing her bantamweight belt to Julianna Pena at UFC 269. Since then, the squabbles around her departure and her starting a new gym have been a hot topic in the MMA community for quite some time.

It was suspected that Kayla Harrison’s arrival at the gym and her rise as a potential contender played a role in Amanda Nunes’ departure after seven years at ATT. The former bantamweight champ confirmed it herself at the UFC 316 press conference, saying, “Yes, I did. Because when she got there, she started training with my coach… and I knew this fight would happen one day. If I was there now, that would be a problem.” Well, Ali Abdelaziz didn’t waste any time roasting Nunes and calling her out for it

Ali Abdelaziz believes Kayla Harrison would make Amanda Nunes “quit”

Kayla Harrison proved why she was such a heavy favorite at the UFC 316 co-main event by choking out Julianna Pena to become the bantamweight champ. That set up the superfight against Amanda Nunes, who was cageside, and the two ultimately faced off. Many have already started picking their favorites, and Ali has chosen his fighter based on Nunes leaving the gym, which he believes was out of intimidation.

The Dominance MMA CEO told Submission Radio, “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.”

Although Nunes’ decision to leave the gym in 2022 came under heavy scrutiny. But ‘The Lioness’ nearly steamrolled Julianna Pena in their rematch at UFC 277 and did the same against Irene Aldana at UFC 289—the day she finally retired. So far, leaving ATT hasn’t affected her performance. We’ll find out if that’s still true when she eventually faces Harrison in the foreseeable future.

The female bantamweight superfight would probably shatter the charts. However, former UFC flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson has suggested that the newly crowned 135 champ should retire instead of facing Amanda Nunes. Let’s see what ‘Mighty Mouse’ has to say. 

Demetrious Johnson warns Harrison ahead of Nunes super fight 

While everyone’s buzzing about how Kayla Harrison could dominate her next fight after ragdolling Julianna Pena, who once beat Amanda Nunes. For that, the excitement is building for the superfight against the former two-division queen. But Demetrious Johnson thinks the Olympian judoka won’t stand a chance due to the gap in their competition levels.

‘Mighty Mouse’ on his YouTube channel said, “If I was Kayla Harrison, I would retire from the sport,” Kayla Harrison is calling out Amanda Nunes. I think that’s a very, very bad idea. Yes, Kayla Harrison is a world champion, but when you look at the roster of what Amanda Nunes fought and what Kayla Harrison fought, there’s no f— comparison.”

The former UFC flyweight legend also pointed to the list of Amanda Nunes’ recent opponents as an example to explain why Kayla Harrison might not stand a chance in the superfight. He added, “There’s not one comparison at all. You had Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Cat Zingano, and Valentina Shevchenko. Just the talent pool Amanda Nunes has fought in mixed martial arts, blows everything that Kayla Harrison has done in her entire career, just the talent pool.” 

It’s definitely true that there’s no comparison between Nunes and Harrison when it comes to the level of competition they’ve faced in MMA. ‘The Lioness’ would outshine most of the female bantamweights. But styles make fights, and that’s what will make the superfight so intriguing—potentially the biggest spectacle of the year.