Larissa Pacheco: 'Pioneer' Cris Cyborg tougher fight than Kayla Harrison
08/10/2023 00:00
Larissa Pacheco is the only woman to beat two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison in MMA, and she expects a tougher fight against Cris Cyborg.
Pacheco won a decision over the American judoka in a trilogy bout, capturing the 2022 PFL lightweight championship this past November. She's now set to fight Marina Mokhnatkina in the featherweight finals on Nov. 24.
Pacheco is focused on the task, but she gets excited at the idea of possibly facing MMA legend Cris Cyborg, the current Bellator featherweight champion, in 2024.
"That would definitely shake things up in PFL," Pacheco said on this week's episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocação Franca. "PFL is one of the biggest organizations and does a great job promoting events, so imagine that, it would boost the women's division. New challenges, more interesting fights, more competitive fights."
Cyborg defends her title in the co-main event of Bellator 300 in San Diego, and she could potentially face her countrywoman if PFL acquires Bellator as reports indicate.
A former Jungle Fight champion and UFC veteran, Pacheco won 11 of 13 bouts under the PFL banner, losing only decisions to Harrison, and currently rides a nine-fight winning streak with seven first-round knockouts. Aside from Harrison and Julia Budd, however, all of her opponents aren't really known by casual MMA fans: Olena Kolesnyk (three times), Amber Leibrock, Genah Fabian, Zamzagul Fayzallanova and Julija Pajic.
"You wouldn't be at risk of losing to someone else or someone who has just arrived, you would be fighting someone who has been a champion," Pacheco said. "It's different. The motivation is different. It gives you extra hunger to train and overcome and build your name. Cris was already at the top when I started fighting, so to be fighting her and winning, you won't just beat someone, you'll beat one of the pioneers. Cat Zingano also has a huge story in fighting, she's a super tough athlete. They have a solid team over at Bellator, and it would be perfect to combine that with PFL's."
Cyborg has won titles in the UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta FC before holding Bellator gold, and she returns to the circular cage to face Zingano after competing twice in boxing. The fact she has won combined 20 bouts in those four promotions with 16 knockouts makes Pacheco treat her as a tougher foe.
"It's hard to get to the grappling part if you have to go through someone's hands, and we know Cris has super heavy hands," Pacheco said. "It's not that simple. You have to study the stand-up, and that is harder than grappling. You can do some basic stuff in grappling to survive on the ground, but you can't do that on the feet. If you're not on point on the feet, you're done. One hand lands and you go down."
"I think Cat will suffer a little bit and Cris wins [at Bellator 300]," she added. "Cat Zingano has excellent grappling on the ground, she has good takedowns too, but like I said, it's hard to close the distance. Her striking needs to be on point, and she needs to survive the strikes and avoid Cris's heavy hands – otherwise, it's over."
