Larissa Pacheco admits she was “frustrated” that PFL was overlooking her by trying to book Kayla Harrison vs. Cris Cyborg, but in the end things played out in her favor.
Pacheco (23-4), who has won consecutive $1 million PFL championships in 2022 and 2023, expected to be at the forefront of the conversation when PFL acquired Bellator and announced a champion-vs-champion event on Feb. 24 in Saudi Arabia. PFL founder Donn Davis originally said Pacheco vs. Bellator champ Cyborg was the fight to make, but the narrative quickly shifted to fight with Harrison, who Pacheco beat to win her first of back-to-back titles.
In fact, Pacheco said she was led to believe she should prepare for the Cyborg fight next month in Riyadh, but it never came to fruition.
“Definitely I’m frustrated,” Pacheco told MMA Junkie through an interpreter on Wednesday. “I lost my holidays. Time is money. I kept on working. I had worked already the whole year to show what I can do, show my work and I obliged and I did everything they asked me for. I don’t think the communication was very good. But, I keep on working. I’m here. I keep focused and we have to move on.”
The situation took a wild twist on Tuesday when UFC CEO Dana White announced he’d signed Harrison to fight Holly Holm at UFC 300 on April 13 in Las Vegas. That now leaves Pacheco vs. Cyborg as the most prominent women’s fight PFL can put together, and Pacheco said that’s how it should’ve been from the start.
“It was supposed to happen anyway,” Pacheco said. “I put the work in here. I won it two times. I am the champion. It’s supposed to be champion-vs-champion. … I think this just establishing the correct way things should be, because I am the champion, and it’s champion-vs-champion.”
Whatever Pacheco’s next move turns out to be, it’s going to be a change from what she’s experienced thus far in her PFL tenure. The promotion is rapidly evolving in the wake of the Bellator deal, and one of the changes is the dissolution of the women’s featherweight season, which will be replaced by women’s flyweight.
PFL CEO Peter Murray said on Wednesday that Pacheco fights will likely be placed on pay-per-view cards, and a matchup with Cyborg would fit the standard. Pacheco said she is “relieved” she won’t have to go through the grueling schedule of another PFL season, and it will allow her to train more efficiently for each bout.
She will need to be at her best to fight Cyborg, who is the most decorated women’s featherweight in MMA history.
“She’s a great striker,” Pacheco said. “I think I’m a little bit more versatile. I think a fight between us, it’s going to be a war. It could end in the first round, it could be a five-round war. I think our styles are similar. I think that it’s a great matchup. I think that she’s a very good striker. I think I’m a more complete fighter. I think a fight like this, anything can happen.”
Beating Cyborg would be a signature win on Pacheco’s resume. At only 29, she has already been a professional for nearly 12 years. She’s earned 19 of her 23 career victories by stoppage, and is currently riding a 10-fight winning streak.
The Brazilian has all the tools to go down as one of the legendary female MMA figures, and despite all her success to this point, Pacheco said further greatness remains a key driving force.
“Now it’s about my legacy,” Pacheco said. “Now I want to solidify my name up there with Amanda Nunes and with Cris Cyborg. I want to show the world what I can do. I want to do, not only for my name and my career, but also for the sport, I want to retire knowing I did everything possible for my legacy and for the sport. That’s really important for me right now to establish my name among the very best in the world in history.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL vs. Bellator.
