This past Saturday in the co-main event of PFL Battle of the Giants, the Super Fights women’s featherweight title was on the line. Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg (28-2) was taking on two-time PFL champion Larissa Pacheco (23-5).
Back in 2019, Larissa Pacheco lost twice during the PFL Regular Season to Kayla Harrison. However, since her second defeat which was in the lightweight finals, she hadn’t lost entering Saturday night. Her run included dethroning Harrison in 2022 for the lightweight title and then winning the 2023 featherweight title. In many ways, people look at her like a younger version of Cris Cyborg.
Cyborg entered the SmartCage having gone 28-1 in her last 29 fights after losing her professional MMA debut. She became a world champion in Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC, and Bellator. On Saturday night, she was looking to do something historic in capturing the PFL Super Fights featherweight title which would be her fifth promotional championship.
These two were very evenly matched, but there was one thing clear throughout the fight. The one thing that was clear is that Cris Cyborg was just a step ahead of Larissa Pacheco. Pacheco had her moments and she busted up Cyborg, but Cyborg was in control for a lot of the fight. She mixed in her wrestling very well and she also did a great job of letting Pacheco come to her.
By the end of the fifth round, I thought it was a clear decision for Cyborg, I just wasn’t sure if it was 49-46 or 48-47. In the end, all three judges scored the fight 49-46 and Cris Cyborg won the PFL Super Fights featherweight title.
What’s next after PFL Super Fights?
The big question now is, what’s next for Cyborg. She’s the reigning Bellator featherweight champion and now she’s the Super Fights champion. In her post-fight interview on Saturday, she said that she has two fights left on her current contract, and honestly, there’s really only two fights that make sense.
On the Bellator side, a fight that makes a lot of sense is pairing Cyborg against Sara Collins. Collins is unbeaten with her latest win coming against Leah McCourt last month in the first round of the main event of their fight at the Bellator Champions Series event in London.
I think that’s a fight that should happen and it could be for both titles depending on how PFL wants to do things. The other fight that makes a lot of sense is a rematch with Larissa Pacheco. If I’m booking things, I’d put Pacheco on the same card as Cyborg when Cyborg fights Sara Collins. If they both win, they fight again later in 2025 and that could ultimately prove to be a passing of the torch moment which would be great for the PFL.