MMA fans have discussed a rhetorical matchup between American Top Team teammates Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison for months.
Nunes and Harrison have skyrocketed to the top of women’s MMA, especially over the past year. Harrison is undefeated in her young MMA career as the multiple-time PFL lightweight champion while Nunes currently holds UFC belts at featherweight and bantamweight.
Nunes has cleared out most of the top contenders in both of her divisions while Harrison has looked virtually unstoppable in many eyes in the PFL. Fans have drooled and debated a potential future matchup between Nunes and Harrison in the UFC and how it could play out.
However, a major obstacle is in the way of making that happen. ATT gym owner Dan Lambert isn’t keen on a matchup between Nunes and Harrison and is extremely uncomfortable with the discussion.
During a recent interview on The MMA Hour, Lambert explained why a Nunes vs. Harrison fight isn’t on his ‘to-do list’.
“I’d do everything I could to avoid it,” Lambert said. “I don’t like when our people fight. Usually, when you go into a fight you’ve got at least a 50-50 of leaving happy or sad. Put two of our people against each other, especially in such a high-stakes fight, you’ve got a 100 percent chance of leaving feeling pretty bad for somebody.”
“But hey, sometimes sh*t happens,” Lambert continued. “If it were to happen, we’d separate the training, pick out training partners and coaches that would help each and may the best man or woman win.”
Harrison is officially a free agent after fulfilling her PFL contract. She defeated Taylor Guardado for the PFL lightweight championship last week and is currently pondering her options for the next chapter of her career.
Nunes is scheduled to face former The Ultimate Fighter winner Julianna Peña at UFC 269. She has won 12 fights in a row and has demolished top featherweight and bantamweight title contenders during her reigns.
Nunes and Harrison haven’t exactly shied away from a potential matchup in the future between the two teammates. Just last year, Harrison alluded to chasing Nunes as the greatest female MMA fighter in the sport.
Harrison and Nunes remain two of the biggest names in MMA, regardless of gender. While a matchup between the two ATT stars isn’t completely off the table, it faces some obstacles in the form of Lambert and the ATT leadership.
Do you think we’ll ever see an Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison super fight?
