Cris Cyborg lifted her new PFL belt on October 19, when she faced Larissa Pacheco in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An all-Brazilian contest served as the co-feature on the card, billed as “Battle of the Giants“.
The featherweight clash saw a fast-paced all-around action. Among the highlight moments, Cyborg delivered a big kick to the head, while Pacheco knocked her opponent down with a right hand. After five rounds, all three scores were 49-46.
With the victory by unanimous decision, former UFC champion and Bellator titleholder Cris Cyborg added a new strap to her collection. The 39-year-old, who made her first appearance inside the MMA cage in a year, improved to 28-2 and secured her eighth win in a row.
“I feel very blessed, very thankful,” Cris Cyborg said post-fight. “I worked really hard. It was 12 weeks hard work.”
“I’m here happy and I have two more fights. I will defend this title.”
Larissa Pacheco dropped to 23-5. The 30-year-old two-division PFL champion got her 10-fight winning streak snapped.
Atop the PFL Battle of the Giants fight card, Cameroonian-French former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (18-3) KO’d PFL champion Renan Ferreira (13-4, 3 NC) of Brazil in the first round. In the third title fight on the night, Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen (16-0) of Des Moines, Iowa retained his strap by unanimous decision in a rematch against Fabian Edwards (13-4) of Jamaica.