{"id":36533,"date":"2026-01-15T18:29:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Kayla-Harrison-Shares-PostSurgery-Update-Following-UFC-324-Withdrawal-199753"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:29:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:29:32","slug":"kayla-harrison-shares-post-surgery-update-following-ufc-324-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/kayla-harrison-shares-post-surgery-update-following-ufc-324-withdrawal\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayla Harrison Shares Post-Surgery Update Following UFC 324 Withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n


\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> bantamweight champ Kayla
\nHarrison<\/a> is starting the long road to recovery.<\/p>\n

News broke<\/a> Wednesday that Harrison, 35,
\nrequired and underwent surgery on her herniated disc(s) in her
\nneck. This ejected her from her co-main event championship tilt at
\nUFC 324<\/a> against all-time great Amanda
\nNunes<\/a>. Rather than slot in a replacement for Nunes on
\nultra-short notice, the organization will table the bout until
\nlater.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This withdrawal marks the first time that Harrison has pulled out
\nof a fight in her pro career that started in 2018. The two-time
\nOlympic gold medalist in judo picked up those awards in 2012 and
\n2016, and her skills translated to MMA to the point that she won
\nnot one but two million-dollar tournaments with Professional Fighters League<\/a> to build a record
\nof 14-0. While she suffered her first career loss at the hands of
\nLarissa
\nPacheco<\/a> in 2022, it came after she had already beaten the
\nBrazilian twice prior.<\/p>\n

Bouncing into the UFC with a stellar win\/loss tally of 15-1,
\nHarrison steamrolled ex-champ Holly Holm<\/a> in
\nher UFC debut in 2024. A decision victory over Ketlen
\nVieira<\/a> springboarded her into a championship showdown with
\nJulianna
\nPena<\/a>, whom she wrangled and tapped in two rounds to win the
\ngold. Her first defense was slated for UFC 324, but that will have
\nto wait.<\/p>\n

The Road Back Starts Now<\/h2>\n

\u201cHi guys,\u201d the pained champ sporting a neck brace stated Thursday on social media<\/a> while wiping away
\ntears. \u201cI just wanted to give a bit of an update on my end. Yeah,
\nthis is a tough one. I had to have surgery on my neck yesterday,
\nhere in New York City with the specialist Dr. [Han Jo] Kim. In lieu
\nof that, obviously we\u2019re going to have to reschedule the fight
\n[with Nunes]. And I just want to say, I\u2019m sorry\u2026to Amanda, I was
\nreally looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The promotion has since stated that it plans on rebooking this
\nfight at a later date. It has not yet elected to create an interim
\nbelt or considered stripping Harrison of her title, although that
\nwill depend on her currently undetermined return timetable.
\nAccording to a variety of orthopedic specialists, recovery from
\nherniated disc surgery can take upwards of 12 weeks to be able to
\nresume standard work duties, to say nothing about training and
\nengaging in combat sports.<\/p>\n

The crestfallen yet grateful Harrison continued, \u201cI just want to
\nthank everyone. I want to thank the UFC for taking such good care
\nof me. Dr. D [Jeff Davidson] and [Dr.] Jen [Neudorfer] and the
\nwhole team over there. I want to thank Dr. Kim here in New York for
\nseeing me and taking such good care of me. I want to thank my mom,
\nwho is taking care of my kids at home. I want to thank all my
\ncoaches at American Top Team, and all my teammates. This is day one
\nof recovery, and the road back starts now. I don\u2019t know God\u2019s
\nplans, I know He knows that this is my dream. So, I gotta praise
\nHim in the mountains and I gotta praise Him in the valleys. And so,
\nI\u2019m grateful for this, I hope that it brings me closer to Him and
\nthat He uses this story in a mighty way. So that\u2019s it. I\u2019m sorry,
\nguys; I\u2019ll be back soon. I\u2019ll be back soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

My UFC 324 update.
\n#kaylaharrison<\/a>
\n#ufc324<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/p5KDtOpGhk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kayla Harrison Official (@KaylaH)
\nJanuary 15, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight champ Kayla Harrison is starting the long road to recovery. News broke Wednesday that Harrison, 35, required and underwent surgery on her herniated disc(s) in her neck. This ejected her from her co-main event championship tilt at UFC 324 against all-time great Amanda Nunes. Rather than slot in a replacement for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}