A year into MMA free agency, former two-division PFL champion Larissa Pacheco is growing frustrated with the lack of offers in the sport.
Pacheco was let go by PFL a year after her five-round war with Cris Cyborg and has since campaigned for deals with other promotions. An attempt to return to the UFC was fruitless, which she thinks was to “protect” their bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, and other MMA promotions also wouldn’t offer her deals.
“It’s the biggest promotion in the world, so it kind of sets the rules for the market,” Pacheco told MMA Fighting. “All the other fighters end up taking fights to perform well, win a belt, and get into the UFC. If they sign me, I’ll hold up an entire division, holding up the progress of 10 or 15 girls who would otherwise make it into the promotion. We’ve already tried KSW and Oktagon in Europe. We’ve tried everywhere, and that’s what keeps happening. It’s another source of frustration because I want to be working. I’m a high-level athlete.”
Pacheco only competed once over the past two years, and it wasn’t in a MMA bout. The 32-year-old ran through Julia Stasiuk at Karate Combat, a match she took to “prove” MMA promotions she could make 135 pounds after winning the 145- and 155-pound titles in PFL.
Still, no offer.
“It’s been really difficult,” Pacheco said. “Karate Combat is a promotion that’s giving me an opportunity and generating some hype, but it’s not my sport. It’s not an MMA event. That win proves that I can make weight, but it doesn’t put me where I need to be, where I deserve to be. The market has kind of closed its doors on me, you know?
“I know I’m a high-level athlete and that I have what it takes to compete in the UFC or any other major promotion, but because of… Actually, it’s something several promoters have already said: ‘There’s no athlete at Larissa’s level. We’re not going to be able to find an opponent. The athletes we can get will demand an outrageous amount of money to fight Larissa. And if she wins the belt, which is probably what’s going to happen, she’ll hold up the division for the girls who are close to getting into the UFC.’
“It’s kind of frustrating, you know? It’s sad, actually. It makes me really sad because I wanted to keep working. I’m still very young, and I have a long career ahead of me. We’ve already looked for opportunities in promotions all over the world, literally everywhere, and it’s always the same answer. Even Karate Combat has a hard time finding an opponent who’s willing to fight me.”
It’s been almost three years since her last MMA victory, topping Marina Mokhnatkina via decision to claim the 2023 PFL featherweight season title and extend her winning streak to 10. Seven of those wins were first-round knockouts, plus a decision in a trilogy match with future UFC champion Kayla Harrison.
“The bad thing about this is that it kind of makes me fade into the background,” Pacheco said of her forced layoff. “People forget very quickly. People who follow the sport know me, remember me, and know what I’ve done. But new fans, the audience that’s constantly changing, end up forgetting about me.”
The women’s bantamweight division is the shallowest in the UFC today with less than 30 athletes under contract, and some wonder if major stars Harrison and Amanda Nunes will remain active after they face off for the title on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden. Pacheco defends that the 135-pound roster would benefit from her addition.
“A lot of big names, including fighters, reporters, sponsors, and promotion officials, have been complaining about women’s MMA,” Pacheco said, but I look at that and think, man, that doesn’t apply to me. It doesn’t apply to me because I’ve always gone out there and delivered exciting fights. I have very few fights that have gone to a decision, and every single one of those fights was a war. But all we hear is people complaining that women’s fights are boring. It’s hard to defend the division, but the people in charge of running the promotions are the ones who actually make the matchups.”
“I don’t know what else to do anymore,” she continued. “What, do I need to fight a man for that? That’s ridiculous, because I train with men every day. It’s absurd. I don’t know what else I can do to get another opportunity to fight in a major promotion. It’s not even about money because I’m simply looking for a fight. I’ve already accepted extremely low purses just to be able to compete, but there really aren’t any opponents available — and the people being approached are asking for an outrageous amount of money to fight me. I’m willing to fight. I need some direction because I want to keep fighting.
“I’m not asking for a title fight. I’m not asking to get into the UFC and fight Amanda or Kayla. I’m not asking for that. I’m asking for the opportunity to show what I can still do in this sport, you know? To show what I can bring, to give it everything I’ve got. To pursue the best fight, the best knockout, the best submission, and deliver the kind of war I’ve always delivered.”