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Kayla Harrison discusses road to UFC 334 after recovery from neck surgery

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3 days ago

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Kayla Harrison discusses road to UFC 334 after recovery from neck surgery
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UFC women's bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison has opened up on her return to action following neck surgery.

At the start of this year, Kayla Harrison was set to defend the UFC women's bantamweight championship against Amanda Nunes. It's the kind of superfight that comes along once in a generation, and fans were pretty excited to see how these two titans of the mixed martial arts game would match up against one another.

RELATED: Amanda Nunes believes delay in Kayla Harrison superfight was a good thing

Unfortunately, we didn't find out at UFC 324 as planned. This was due to Kayla Harrison undergoing neck surgery to resolve some persistent injuries. Thankfully, it didn't prove to be career-ending for the champ. Now, their showdown has been rebooked for this weekend in the co-main event of UFC 334.

Ahead of the fight, Kayla Harrison had the following to say about the difficult road to recovery after her neck surgery.

Kayla Harrison opens up on neck injury recovery

“Physically, I was preparing for the biggest fight of my life, and I was obviously having an immense amount of pain, having lightning bolts,†Harrison said. “I was on the verge of having permanent nerve damage, but I was also training as if I wasn't. So, I was in the best shape of my life, as good of shape as I could be with that – and then I was in a neck brace for eight weeks.

“I couldn't lift more than 20 pounds. I went from being on a very extreme diet to not being on a very extreme diet. Then after I was in a neck brace for eight weeks, then I was allowed to take that off and lift like 50 pounds. Then after that eight weeks, I was allowed to sprint. So, physically, I did not feel like myself. I did not feel good. I did not feel good in my body.

“Mentally, to go from that high and that low is hard, and when I was finally able to get back on the mat, I really struggled with confidence. I think I was so scared to hurt my neck again, number one. That lack of confidence made me question if I was ever gonna feel like me again.

“So, I had a lot of soul-searching to do, and like digging deep to figure out if this is even (what I wanted). Because my neck didn't hurt when I wasn't training. If I was just being a mom, I could be fine. But getting back to the Kayla that I was, was really, really hard. … It's been hard, but it's been worth it.â€

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Are you excited to see what Harrison can achieve post-neck surgery? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, BJPENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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MMA

PFL Dubai ‘Nemkov vs. Bilostenniy’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

12 hours ago

on

November 14, 2026

By

PFL Dubai ‘Nemkov vs. Bilostenniy’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
PFL Dubai coverage will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. ET.

A
heavyweight title fight headlines PFL Dubai: Tune in on Saturday,
Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. ET on the ESPN app.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

Round 1

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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

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Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 4

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Round 5

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Tyler Treese scores the round:
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The Official Result

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MMA

Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t want to press charges against Usman Nurmagomedov, wants to help him get out of prison

Published

14 hours ago

on

November 14, 2026

By

Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t want to press charges against Usman Nurmagomedov, wants to help him get out of prison

Merab Dvalishvili doesn't want to make life harder on Usman Nurmagomedov.

On Wednesday, Nurmagomedov and a group of his associates attacked Dvalishvili and his friend Saba Lazishvili in the Yas Hotel lobby in Abu Dhabi ahead of RAF Abu Dhabi. The brawl resulted in 10 arrests, including Dvalishvili and Lazishvili, Nurmagomedov and the other five assailants, plus the two men who recorded the incident.

On Friday, it was reported that Dvalishvili and Lazishvili were released from custody and handed down a Dh50,000 ($14,000) fine for disturbing public security and assaulting others. Nurmagomedov and the five assailants, meanwhile, were sentenced to six months in prison for disturbing public security, causing panic and endangering lives, fined Dh300,000 ($80,000) each, and are set to be deported from the United Arab Emirates after serving their sentences. The two people who filmed the brawl were also sentenced to six months in prison and hit with a Dh300,000 fine each, and a deportation order “for violating privacy by using information technology to film and publish footage of the brawl.â€

But despite being the man who was attacked, Dvalishvili doesn't want Nurmagomedov and his friends to be stuck in jail.

“We don't want to press charges, nothing, bro,†Dvalishvili told Chris Weidman. “We say whatever we can to let them out; we try our best.â€

Dvalishvili also reiterated the same sentiment on his own social media.

Just want to let everyone know I have been released and I am good, healthy and ready to go . I want to thank everyone in Abu Dhabi for your help in resolving this matter. I love visiting Abu Dhabi and am happy to be welcomed. I do hope that they release everyone – I would not press charges. I want peace and the best for all. Thanks everyone for your love and support🦾

Understandably, the brawl caused quite a stir in the MMA world, and while most people seem to agree that Nurmagomedov's unprompted attack was wrong, some have defended his action, including UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev, noting that Dvalishvili slapped one of their friends at RAF Georgia earlier this year. Dvalishvili responded to that incident, saying they had talked things out shortly afterward.

“I got provoked in Georgia,†Dvalishvili told Weidman. “He told me, when I'm here, don't talk about Umar. When I go, [I] can talk about Umar. But he yelled it at me, Russian language, and I got provoked, and I reacted like every man would. But after this, when I realized I was in Georgia and all my Georgian guys wanted to fight him, I said we can't. I said, ‘You wanna handshake?' He said yes, and we shake hands. Done, done, done. That was just done.

“I love Dagestan, especially all the hard-working people, bro,†Dvalishvili continued. “All the wrestlers and fighters. Nothing about Dagestan. I respect. It was just between fighters. I respect all the Dagestani people.â€

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MMA

Norma Dumont leaves UFC with two fights left on her contract

Published

1 day ago

on

November 13, 2026

By

Norma Dumont leaves UFC with two fights left on her contract
Norma
Dumont has parted ways with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship despite having two bouts left on
her contract.

Dumont (13-4) has announced that she is no longer in the UFC,
saying she already knew the promotion wouldn't renew her contract
when it expired. She revealed that she had already discussed her
UFC exit with her fiancée and fellow UFC fighter, Marco Tulio
(14-3), with whom she wants to start a family after leaving the
UFC.

Norma Dumont addresses UFC exit, reveals potential boxing
retirement fight

Dumont also revealed that she has received an offer from another
mixed martial arts promotion to compete for a title, as well as
another offer to compete in boxing. The 36-year-old admits the
boxing offer is more lucrative and she's seriously considering
taking it.

“I'm here to announce my official departure from the UFC,†Dumont
said on Instagram. “I want to say that I'm very grateful for all
these years — it was eight years with them, it was wonderful for
me, it's where I built my career, it's where I built my financial
life, I changed my life and the lives of the people around me, I
met Marco Tulio, so for me it was something incredible that made me
very happy for many years. But I think now I need to breathe in new
places… I still had two fights left on my contract with the
organization, but since before my last fight, when there were still
three fights remaining, I already had information that the UFC
probably wouldn't renew once those fights were over. So, I had
already agreed with Marco that I would retire by the end of next
year, maybe sooner, because we want to build our family… And we
came to the conclusion that it's time to breathe different air, and
we’ve already been approached by other opportunities. One is in
MMA, fighting for a belt, and another is in boxing. Both offers are
very good, but I confess I'm more inclined toward boxing. It would
be an incredible opportunity and I think you'll see me in boxing
next year. Financially, it's worth it, and I think I'll have a lot
of fun. Since I got this offer, I've even been excited to get back
to training, but for now I still can't give any details. I leave my
thanks to the organization and to the fans.â€

Dumont made her UFC debut in 2020 and went 9-4 in the promotion.
“The Immortal†exits the UFC on a two-fight skid. She most recently
suffered a unanimous decision loss to Ailin Perez
this past September, which she believes she won.

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