The UFC has added extra insurance to one of its biggest fights of the year. With UFC 334 two weeks away, the promotion has named Panama’s Joselyne Edwards the official backup fighter for the women’s bantamweight title bout between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes, a precaution built around a fight years in the making.
Harrison Returns From Surgery to Defend Her Title
Harrison, the American judo Olympian who submitted Julianna Pena to win the 135-pound (61 kg) bantamweight title at UFC 316 in June 2025, has not fought since withdrawing from a planned title defense against Nunes at UFC 324 in January. Harrison said at the time she could no longer lift her arm and was feeling shooting pain down her body, a condition that led to emergency neck surgery in New York days after the fight was scrapped. She has said she took an Uber to the hospital alone the next day, uncertain what to expect. UFC 334, set for November 14 at Madison Square Garden, will be her first fight since that operation and the first defense of the belt she won from Pena.
Nunes Comes Out of Retirement After Three Years Away
Her opponent is Brazilian legend Amanda Nunes, the only woman to hold two UFC titles at once, a run that began when she submitted Miesha Tate for the bantamweight belt and continued when she knocked out Cris Cyborg for the featherweight title. Nunes retired in June 2023 after beating Irene Aldana at UFC 289 and has since been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. The Harrison fight will be her first appearance in the cage in more than three years, and the first time she has shared the cage with a reigning champion since coming out of retirement.
Edwards Steps Into a Standby Role
Edwards, a ranked bantamweight contender with a 9-4 UFC record and a five-fight winning streak since joining the promotion in 2021, will train alongside the camp, make weight on fight week, and get paid to stay ready, all without a guaranteed bout unless Harrison or Nunes pulls out. She takes the standby role after fellow bantamweight Ailin Perez publicly volunteered for it back in September, ahead of her own fight against Norma Dumont at UFC Vegas 121. The promotion went with Edwards instead, a sign the UFC wanted someone already sharpening in the same training cycle rather than a fighter coming off her own camp.
A Backup Plan That Shows the Stakes
Naming an official backup for a non-title fight is rare, and doing it for a championship bout is unusual even by UFC standards. The move reflects how much risk the promotion sees in this particular pairing. Harrison is coming off major surgery on her neck, and Nunes has not competed in over three years after walking away at the top of two divisions. The UFC does not want a late scratch to cost Madison Square Garden the card it has spent months building around two generations of champions, a fight Dana White has called one of the biggest in women’s MMA history.
Gane and Hokit Headline the Same New York Card
Harrison and Nunes co-headline a card topped by interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, who defends the undisputed 265-pound (120 kg) title against unbeaten Josh Hokit. The belt sits vacant after Tom Aspinall stepped away from it because of lingering eye damage from his no-contest with Gane at UFC 321 in October 2025. Gane earned the interim title by knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250, the same card where Hokit, a late replacement who climbed the heavyweight ranks in barely two years, improved to 10-0 as a pro by finishing Derrick Lewis in the second round and calling for the shot he now has. It is Gane’s fourth crack at the undisputed belt, after a decision loss to Francis Ngannou and a first-round submission loss to Jon Jones. UFC 334 airs on Paramount+.
Two generations of champions share the same New York marquee on November 14, a heavyweight chasing a title that has eluded him three times and a bantamweight champion returning from surgery against one of the greatest fighters the sport has produced, with Edwards waiting in the wings for either one.
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