Dana White has revealed that despite women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison’s recent neck surgery he still expects her to be the fighter to welcome Amanda Nunes back to the Octagon later this year.

Harrison vs. Nunes had originally been scheduled as the co-main event of UFC 324 this weekend before Harrison’s neck injury led to her undergoing immediate surgery, but despite speculation that Nunes might go on to fight someone else instead, White insists that was never the plan.

“This fight is the greatest female fight ever,” White said of Harrison vs. Nunes during an interview with TMZ Sports. “You can’t just throw somebody else in there.

“You wait until she’s ready and you do the fight.”

white also indicated that Nunes appears to be on-board with that idea as the former two-division champion waits patiently for her chance to make her comeback and try to reclaim the 135lb title.

“Amanda’s so awesome to work with. And, you know, I’ve had a great relationship with her since day one. So, yeah. She’s very easy to work with.”

“I do [expect this fight to happen]. It’s looking like Kayla’s surgery went well. She should make a full recovery. And yeah, we should be able to do the fight this year.”

Watch White’s full interview below.