Ketlen Vieira will battle ‘Grand Slam’ featherweight MMA champion Cris Cyborg in her PFL debut Saturday, when the promotion lands at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla. The UFC veteran foresees more big fights down the road for her in PFL against stars from past and present.
Cyborg has been more active in boxing than MMA over the past few years, entering the cage only twice after the PFL-Bellator merger to beat Larissa Pacheco and Sara Collins but six times in the squared circle of boxing. Vieira knows the 145-pound division isn’t that deep among women, and PFL doesn’t yet have a women’s bantamweight class, but all that can change with the upcoming MVP MMA merger.
“My situation is a little different from Cris Cyborg’s because I can make bantamweight,” Vieira told MMA Fighting. “Cris Cyborg was very limited to featherweight, so I don’t think that really applies to me because I can make bantamweight. PFL doesn’t have the division yet, but I believe that with this merger, they’ll eventually open up bantamweight, so I wouldn’t be limited. I can make other divisions. It’s just that I can’t make 125. If I could make 125, I would fight there. I think I could get close to 125, but I wouldn’t be able to make the weight. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with Cris Cyborg, which is why she doesn’t fight as often.”
Vieira, who missed weight by 7 pounds for the PFL Tampa main event due to health issues during the weight cut, remains fully focused on beating Cyborg on Aug. 22, “the opportunity I’ve wanted my entire life” against “a huge name who needs no introduction” as former UFC, Bellator, Invicta FC and Strikeforce titleholder. Yet, Vieira mentions names she would be thrilled to share the cage with in 2027.
“There’s also Dakota [Ditcheva], who is a big name at 125,” Vieira said. “I can’t make 125, unfortunately, but if she moved up to bantamweight, that’s another fight I’d like to have. She’s a big name. Or Ronda [Rousey], too. I’ve fought pretty much all the big names already. The only ones missing are Ronda and Amanda [Nunes].”
“I always thought about fighting at featherweight, but I wanted to become bantamweight champion first and then move up to featherweight,” she continued. “I’m a big athlete. We always say that at the gym, I’m a featherweight who fights at bantamweight. I have the size to transition between both divisions. Thankfully, I can still make bantamweight, whereas Cris can’t. But yes, I’ve always considered the possibility of fighting in the division above. It’s just that when I was in the UFC, the division was kind of fading away and we didn’t have the opportunity to fight there.”
Vieira fought once at featherweight in the UFC, when a 135-pound bout with Macy Chiasson was move a division up after she suffered with abdominal cramp during fight week. Vieira said she felt “stronger and had more punching power” in that weight class, winning a decision over Chiasson. Doing a full camp at 145 pounds now, she expects a much better performance all around.
“I’m working with the strategy wizard, ‘Dedé’ [Andre Pederneiras],” Vieira said. “He’s already come up with a great strategy for us. It’s a fight where I’m going to have to use strategy and intelligence to my advantage, and that’s something I usually do in my fights. I always fight according to a strategy, unless I see a very clear opportunity to finish the fight. Then I’ll obviously go for it, but we have a good strategy in place, and it’s going to lead me to victory.
“I don’t believe this is going to be [Cris Cyborg’s] last fight. It could be the last fight on her contract, but I think she has other big challenges ahead that depend a lot on other women being willing to fight her. But I’m here to do my job, and I’m training to spoil her plans on the 22nd. That’s what I want, to become champion. It’s my dream. I’ve always waited for this opportunity to fight for a title, to fight for a world championship, and now I’m getting it.”
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