Professional Fighters League founder Donn Davis
recently said that Bellator featherweight champion Cristiane
Justino will face 2023 PFL 145-pound champ Larissa
Pacheco in her next bout.
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Carlos
Barreto has other ideas. The UFC Fight Pass Brazil commentator
declared on his „Papo de Luta“ podcast that he believes Kayla
Harrison should be the next opponent for “Cyborg.”
„We know that the idea is to pit champion versus champion, but just
like [Francis] Ngannou vs. [Bellator heavyweight champ] Ryan Bader
should take place instead of Bader vs. Renan
Ferreira, because that would be a more entertaining fight for
the audience, I believe Mr. Davis should use the same thought
process to put Kayla and Cyborg first,” he said.
According to Barreto, the reason is not just fan interest but the
possibility of “Cyborg” losing to Pacheco.
„Brazilian fans would probably rather see Cris vs Larissa, but we
are talking about world marketing,” he said. “Kayla and Cyborg have
been attacking each other on their social media for a long time.
That would sell a lot in the U.S. and also in the rest of the
world. One of the best knockout artists in female MMA history
against the grappling ace and two-time Olympic judo champion.
“If they make Larissa vs. ‘Cyborg’ first, I see real chances for
Cris to lose. If we take into account the low level of the
opponents she is facing lately and the technical growth of Larissa
in the past year, that can be a bad matchup for ‘Cyborg’ now. And
if Larissa wins, it wouldn’t make any sense to make Cyborg and
Kayla after, since Kayla would say, ‘I already beat Larissa twice.
She beat me once in a close decision.’ So that will be a really
hard mission for PFL matchmakers deal with. If I were them I would
ask the champion, Larissa, to wait and face the winner in the
sequence. And that´s not a bad request from a boss who paid 2
million dollars to his employee in the last 12 months.”