Cris Cyborg is among the best fighters in girls’s MMA historical past, however Larissa Pacheco nonetheless expects some followers and specialists to downplay her feat if she beats her fellow Brazilian countrywoman within the co-main occasion of PFL’s Oct. 19 pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Pacheco enters the match using 10 straight victories, a run that features PFL championship wins in two completely different weight lessons and a 2022 determination win over Kayla Harrison.
“I believe this [Cyborg fight] offers a big push to my profession,” Pacheco advised MMA Combating. “Beating her, after I beat her, they’ll nonetheless say, ‘Oh, it’s simple now, Larissa is 9 years youthful than Cris.’ They’ll all the time have excuses for my wins. However I couldn’t care much less. What issues is to go there and win and show it to myself. I’ve nothing to show to anybody else. Nobody pays my payments and I don’t owe anybody something.”
Harrison, who’s probably one win away from a shot on the UFC bantamweight title after dominating Holly Holm in her octagon debut, has solely misplaced as soon as in MMA. That loss got here by the hands of Pacheco, although the two-time PFL champion nonetheless went 1-2 over three contests towards Harrison beneath the PFL banner. She hopes Harrison by no means loses once more.
“I would like her to be champion, to proceed to develop, and all the pieces goes effectively in her life, and she or he solely has one [loss] there. ‘Larissa! Larissa!’ Echoing ceaselessly in her head,” Pacheco stated with fun.
Cyborg has gained six straight MMA bouts since leaving UFC in 2019, and has additionally picked up 4 wins in boxing. Pacheco admits she questioned if PFL would ever get this battle executed after some delays, however stored coaching for months hoping it will ultimately materialize.
“[This fight] just isn’t a dream for me, it’s not one thing I’ve regarded as much as my complete profession as a result of she wasn’t even within the PFL till this 12 months,” Pacheco stated. “However a buddy of mine jogged my memory that she advised me, seven years in the past, that she was a fan of Cyborg, and I advised her we’d be combating at some point. And it’s occurring now.”
“We now have an thought of how the battle will play out, however we by no means know for positive,” she continued. “We now have the same type, we’re each aggressive and stroll ahead your complete time, no turning again. For some folks, it’s like a lottery. Who goes down first? I don’t know, it’s onerous to say, however all I do know is that we’ll each give our all in there. Cris has an distinctive type and can do all the pieces she will be able to to win, so it’s going to be a historic battle.”
