UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison had to withdraw from her UFC 324 co-main event title fight against Amanda Nunes recently to undergo surgery, and her manager Ali Abdelaziz has now revealed how she was left with no other option but to pull out of the match-up.

“Listen, this has been going on for a long time,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “Kayla has not been 100 percent for the last three years, since the PFL days. She’s always had tingling, but she just… she couldn’t lift her arm and she literally got an injection, a whole bunch of medicine, anti-inflammatory, nothing worked.”

With the situation worsening, Harrison was sent to see a specialist, who revealed just how serious her neck injury was.

“The UFC flew her to New York and the doctor said immediately she needs to get surgery, because if she doesn’t get surgery, this can paralyze her,” Abdelaziz said. “The disc [was] pushing on the spinal cord. But then I’m going to tell you something, immediately after the surgery, all the pain is gone.

“I’m almost 50 years old. I had a neck surgery, my neck is much better than when I was 21. … The UFC sent [her to] the best doctors, best hospital, it’s like nothing happened. And I think it’s the best decision she made, and I’m sorry to all of the fans who missed out on this fight, but Amanda Nunes is not going anywhere. She probably needed a little bit more time too.

“And listen, I feel for her, too because she put a lot of time and effort into this, and in a way, Kayla was gutted. She was heartbroken. I still support her decision, 100 percent because if you go in and lose, [and] you were not the best fighter, that’s OK. But if you go in and lose because you’re injured, [it] will haunt her for the rest of her life.”

It’s good to hear that Harrison’s surgery appears to have been successful, and hopefully that means she will be able to resume her fighting career at some stage in 2026, with her fight with Nunes currently being considered postponed rather than out-right cancelled.