That’s a more apt description.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
“One hundred percent,” Harrison agreed when The Post asked whether the label fit the nature of her relationship with Nunes, whom she will defend the women’s bantamweight title against Saturday night at Madison Square Garden at UFC 334.
asserted
she → agree → UFC
The two sides of what UFC CEO Dana White has called the greatest women’s fight of all time aren’t enemies, but the work-friend thing is gone, Harrison assured.
asserted
Harrison → call → time
The signal flare was lit for this epic clash of champion Harrison — the only American woman to win two Olympic gold medals in judo — and challenger Nunes — the Class of 2025 UFC Hall of Famer returning to action after three years away, having vacated two championship belts upon her initial retirement — 17 months ago at Prudential Center.
asserted
flare → light → Center
Harrison, who’d just completed her long journey to UFC gold by smashing Julianna Peña to steal her gold, welcomed her former American Top Team training partner into the Octagon for a promotional moment rooted in respect and elevating women’s MMA.
asserted
who → complete → MMA
It was the other end of the spectrum from the awkwardly ugly promotional approach of Josh Hokit, the heavyweight title challenger facing champ Ciryl Gane in Saturday’s main event.
asserted
It → face → event
Fast forward to fight week, and the chill in the New York air has made their in-person interactions feel frostier.
asserted
interactions → fast → person
“In the past, our faceoffs have been a little more friendly or [included] hugs.
asserted
faceoffs → include → hugs
This ain’t that.
asserted
This → ai → ?
It’s fight week.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
It’s here,” Harrison says.
asserted
Harrison → ’ → ?
“We’re not friends.
asserted
We → ’re → ?
It’s not personal.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
For me, it’s not personal.
asserted
it → ’ → me
It’s just business, and I’m going to go out there, and I’m going to prove why I’m the best.”
asserted
I → ’ → ?
For Nunes, the victor in one of the other handful of epic clashes of women’s legends when she ended the great Cris Cyborg’s unbeaten run at featherweight eight years ago, the feeling is mutual.
asserted
feeling → end → featherweight
Her return to the cage, healthier after battling knee issues for years leading up to her 2023 retirement while still holding bantamweight and featherweight gold, coincides with Harrison’s rise.
asserted
return → battle → rise
It’s not necessarily a grudge match, though.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
“I don’t hate Kayla,” Nunes told The Post, echoing that the two were never the closest pals during their ATT days.
asserted
two → hate → days
We are two competitive athletes, and we want to fight.
asserted
we → want → ?
We want to put this in the UFC Octagon.
asserted
We → want → Octagon
The [best] part of this: Everybody wins.”
asserted
Everybody → win → this
It’s a win for women’s MMA after one of the quietest years since the UFC embraced Ronda Rousey’s star power in 2013, eventually adding up to four weight classes before paring down to three with featherweight fading away.
asserted
featherweight → ’ → three
The strawweight title was defended once by Mackenzie Dern in an August co-main event that mostly came and went.
asserted
that → defend → event
Natalia Silva won the title vacated by injured legend Valentina Shevchenko atop a maligned October numbered event.
asserted
Silva → win → event
Saturday’s clash dwarfs those two title bouts by magnitudes in terms of fanfare, with frequent bemoaning that a fight the promoter hails as an all-time clash is situated as the co-headliner to a heavyweight clash lacking backstory in which to invest.
asserted
promoter → dwarf → which
It was meant to go off in January — again, in the co-main slot — before Harrison required neck surgery that scuttled the original plan.
asserted
that → mean → plan
It was a long time coming, but the operation’s timing couldn’t be helped, Harrison explained.
asserted
Harrison → come → ?
“Every single camp, I would have a flare-up, and I would be on muscle relaxers, on pain pills, on whatever, and then by the end, it got to the point where there was going to be permanent nerve damage,” Harrison said.
asserted
Harrison → have → point
“That’s why I had to have the surgery.
asserted
I → ’ → surgery
It was just like, my nerves were completely blocked off, and I was having lightning bolts down my arm.
asserted
I → block → arm
I think I slept like maybe two hours the last five days before the surgery just because I would fall asleep and the lightning bolt would wake me up, and it was brutal.”
asserted
it → think → me
expressing some regret of not going through with surgery sooner to fix a problem that plagued her for years, Harrison defends her title for the first time at the Garden.
asserted
Harrison → express → Garden
It’s technically her fourth time fighting right by Penn Station, though the first three under the PFL banner were in the Theater at MSG rather than The Mecca itself.
asserted
three → ’ → Mecca
This one is different, and she’s aware of that more than most.
asserted
she → ’ → most
“Not the same!” she playfully asserted.
asserted
she → assert → ?
“I can’t tell you how excited I am for that.
asserted
I → tell → that
I’m definitely the type of fighter who I feel thrives under the bright lights and shines, and I know that this historic venue with this New York City electric crowd is going to be amazing.”
asserted
venue → ’m → crowd
The Aporia
