The only woman to defeat Kayla Harrison in mixed martial arts is helping to prepare Amanda Nunes for war.
Nunes, arguably the greatest female MMA fighter too ever compete, will come out of retirement to face her former teammate and champion Harrison in the UFC 324 co-main event on Jan. 24, 2026.
Pacheco, who fought Harrison three times, is offering a helping hand to Nunes.
“What I can say is that if the UFC wants to book this fight next week or next month for Amanda, she’s ready,” Pacheco told MMA Fighting. “She’s ready. In terms of adjustments, everything, there’s nothing more to say. I’m not going to talk strategy because I can’t, but she’s ready, man. What I’ve felt from her… I can say this: I’ve felt Kayla’s energy before, and now I’ve felt Amanda’s. She’s ready. That fight is hers, without a doubt. She’s walking out with the win.”
The first two fights between Pacheco and Harrison took place in 2019, with Harrison winning both via decision to end that year as PFL champion and 7-0 in the sport. They would meet for a third time in November 2022, and Pacheco walked away with the decision victory — and the PFL belt.
Nunes retired from MMA after beating Irene Aldana in June 2023.
“She never really lost that throne. Her hunger is to win,” Pacheco said of Nunes. “She didn’t have a real challenge left, one that matched her level. She beat everyone. When she retired, it was at a time when she didn’t have a true challenge anymore. It felt like, ‘I’m doing this just for the money.’ At least that’s how I see it; it’s not something she told me directly.
“But since there’s something personal between them, it adds a different flavor, right? And now Kayla is the champion of the promotion. She said in several interviews that she wanted to be UFC champion, that she wanted to fight Amanda, that she wanted to get there, and now she’s there. Didn’t she want this to happen so badly? Didn’t she ask for it so much? This is the moment.”
“I don’t think there’s a better time for Amanda to come back than now, than this,” she continued. “And to do it in this way, showing not only who she is — that she doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone —, but doing it against someone who truly is a challenge worthy of her.”
