Cris Cyborg announces PFL debut against Larissa Pacheco is finally set: “It’s happening!”

By Josh Evanoff - April 15, 2024

Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg is ready to face Larissa Pacheco in the PFL.

Cris Cyborg, Larissa Pacheco

Many athletes have had their careers radically changed by the PFL’s decision to buy Bellator last year. However, few have been more impacted than the great Cris Cyborg. The women’s featherweight champion last scored a knockout win over Cat Zingano in October at Bellator 300. Post-fight, she faced off with Leah McCourt, in what was expected to be her next fight.

Instead, that bout with McCourt was bumped in favor of a long-awaited fight with Kayla Harrison. However, the Judoka instead headed to the UFC, and Cris Cyborg was then expected to face Larissa Pacheco. The former PFL tournament winner is known mainly for handing Harrison her first career loss in 2022.

Last month, PFL founder Donn Davis announced that Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco was official for this summer. However, the Bellator champion quickly revealed that she never agreed to the contest. The announcement was seemingly another example of a miscommunication between Cyborg and her new MMA home.

However, it seems that whatever issues the two sides had have now been ironed out. Earlier today, Cris Cyborg took to X with a brief post, stating that her fight with Larissa Pacheco is finally going to be happening. However, she declined to leave a date for the women’s featherweight contest.

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Cris Cyborg

(via Bellator MMA)

Cris Cyborg announces Larissa Pacheco PFL fight is officially happening

“It’s happening! @criscyborg x @lpacchec is next @pflmma” – Cyborg wrote on X earlier today.

The PFL card featuring Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco is expected to be the company’s greatest offering ever. The second part of Donn Davis’ announcement earlier this year about the women’s clash, was that Francis Ngannou would be facing Renan Ferreira in the main event of the same card.

‘The Predator’, much like Cris Cyborg, has been linked to a PFL debut for months. Ngannou was last knocked out by Anthony Joshua in the boxing ring last month and confirmed plans to return to MMA post-fight. For his promotional debut, he will be facing ‘Problema’, who knocked out Bellator champion Ryan Bader in February.

The PFL pay-per-view card is also expected to feature the return of former kickboxing champion Cedric Doubme. The Frenchman suffered a controversial stoppage loss to Baissangour Chamsoudinov last month. As of now, the card featuring Cris Cyborg and others lacks a date but is expected for late summer.

What do you make of this PFL fight announcement? Who do you have winning in this one? Cris Cyborg or Larissa Pacheco?