Tearful Kayla Harrison apologizes for UFC 324 withdrawal after surgery

Kayla Harrison has issued her first statement since pulling out of UFC 324, and it was filled with emotion.

The UFC women’s bantamweight champion was forced to withdraw from her Jan. 24 title defense against Amanda Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+) after sustaining a neck injury. She has already undergone surgery to fix a reported pair of herniated disks, and UFC officials confirmed the super fight will be postponed to a later date.

Advertisement

It’s a difficult situation for Harrison (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) to comprehend. On Thursday, she issued a video statement about the situation. Harrison had tears in her eyes and a neck brace as she shared some details about what happened and the challenge of the recover process.

“Hi guys. I just wanted to give a bit of an update on my end. This is a tough one. I had to have surgery on my neck yesterday here in New York City with a specialist,” Harrison said on Instagram. “After that, obviously we’re going to have to reschedule the fight. I just want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry to Amanda. I was really looking forward to it and I just want to thank everyone. I want to thank the UFC for taking such good care of me. Dr. D and Jen and the whole team over there. I want to thank Dr. Tammy here in New York for seeing me and taking such good care of me.

“I want to thank my mom for taking care of my kids at home. I want to thank all my coaches at American Top Team and all my teammates. This is Day 1 of recovery and the road back starts now. I don’t know God’s plans. I know he knows this is my dream, so I’ve got praise him in the mountains and I’ve got praise him in the valleys. I’m grateful for this. I hope that it brings me closer to him and his story in a mighty way. That’s it. I’m sorry, guys. I’ll be back soon.”