MMA fighter Larissa Pacheco completed a monumental feat by defeating Cris Cyborg, one of the greatest fighters in women’s MMA. The bout was the co-main event of PFL’s tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Despite acquiring such a victory, Pacheo believes fans will downplay her win. The fighter has gained 10 straight wins during her run in PFL, but her recent win is by far the biggest.
“I think this [Cyborg fight] gives a gigantic push to my career,” Pacheco told MMA Fighting. “Beating her, when I beat her, they’ll still say, ‘Oh, it’s easy now, Larissa is nine years younger than Cris.’ They’ll always have excuses for my wins. But I couldn’t care less. What matters is to go there and win and prove it to myself. I have nothing to prove to anyone else. No one pays my bills and I don’t owe anyone anything.”
Her previous fight before this was a win over Kayla Harrison– who is one shot away from the UFC bantamweight title–. Despite defeating her opponent, Pacheco hopes Harrison never suffers another loss.
“I want her to be champion, to continue to grow, and to ensure that everything goes well in her life, and she only has one [loss] there. ‘Larissa! Larissa!’ Echoing forever in her head,” Pacheco said with a laugh.
“[This fight] is not a dream for me. It’s not something I’ve looked up to my entire career because she wasn’t even in the PFL until this year,” Pacheco said. “But a friend of mine reminded me that she told me, seven years ago, that she was a fan of Cyborg, and I told her we’d be fighting one day. And it’s happening now.”
“We have an idea of how the fight will play out, but we never know for sure,” she continued. “We have a similar style, we’re both aggressive and walk forward the entire time, no turning back. For some people, it’s like a lottery. Who goes down first? I don’t know, it’s hard to say, but all I know is that we’ll both give our all in there. Cris has an unique style and will do everything she can to win, so it’s going to be a historic fight.”
