Larissa
Pacheco has unfinished business with Kayla
Harrison.
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The Brazilian faced Harrison twice in 2019, dropping a pair of
decisions – including a five-round defeat in the PFL lightweight
final. Pacheco believes she is a far different fighter now than she
was back then.
“The 2019 Larissa was the return of a person who had been off for
multiple years, coming off injuries. Still hurt as a matter of
fact,” Pacheco said at a PFL media day. “The 2022 Larissa is an
athlete and she is fully prepared, not skipping a single training
session. Great mental shape and great physical shape too.”
Pacheco kicked off her 2022 campaign with a bang, earning a
first-round technical knockout victory over Zamzagul
Fayzallanova at PFL 3 on May 6. That is Pacheco’s third
straight first-round KO/TKO victory, and she will look to add to
her resume when she faces Genah
Fabian at PFL 6 on Friday night. Fabian is coming off a
decision win over former PFL champ Julia
Budd.
“It was a good fight, but Genah didn’t make weight. She was a lot
heavier than Julia Budd
that night. She started at a different point than Julia herself,”
Pacheco said. “From my side, you can expect what you’ve been seeing
in my last fights. It’s me putting in everything I have – full
throttle all the time.”
Pacheco was an interested observer for Harrison’s first bout of the
2022 season, and she came away underwhelmed following the two-time
Olympic gold medalist’s decision triumph over Marina
Mokhnatkina in the evening’s main event.
“I actually watched the fight live that night. I wasn’t impressed,”
Pacheco said. “It was what you always see from Kayla. It was her
taking her opponents down, staying on top, heavy top position,
strikes from there. In my opinion this is not what the people want
to see. People want to see diversity in mixed martial arts. People
want to see you giving all you got. They want to see different
types of martial arts.. I feel like what we saw that day was pretty
average. It’s not what the MMA fan wants to see.”
Pacheco won’t hide from the notion that a third meeting with
Harrison is at the top of her to-do list. At the moment, Pacheco
and Harrison would seem like the odds-on favorites to meet again in
the 2022 PFL final.
“I see myself winning. I can see it in a couple different ways. I
can see a big hand landing and knocking her out. I can see me
submitting her,” Pacheco said. “I know for a fact she doesn’t like
getting punched in the face and my hands are getting heavier by the
day. I just simply do not see myself losing that fight. I truly
feel like I’m a lot more complete mixed martial artist than she
is.”
PFL 6 takes place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on
Friday and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Harrison and
Kaitlin
Young. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m.
PT, while prelims will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m.
PT.