After 32 MMA fights, Cyborg is still living up to her name - ESPN

Some nicknames fit a sports star so perfectly that they replace their given names entirely. You might not recognize the names Eldrick Woods and Earvin Johnson Jr. immediately, but surely you've heard of Tiger and Magic.

Same thing with Cyborg.

Just as 82-time PGA Tour winner Tiger Woods was ferocious in his prime on championship Sundays and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson performed now-you-see-it-now-you-don't ball-handling trickery for the Los Angeles Lakers, Cristiane Justino Venâncio fights in an MMA cage with a relentless aggression that can seem imbued by superhuman firepower. Thus, her billing as Cyborg.

Fight promotions have referred to Justino by her nickname for more than two decades, and on Saturday she once again will be introduced as Cris Cyborg when she steps into the PFL cage in Tampa, Florida, to face Ketlen Vieira in her 33rd professional MMA fight — and possibly her last (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET; prelims at 5:30 on ESPN+).

If this weekend is indeed the end of the road for the 41-year-old pioneer of women's MMA, it would close out one of the greatest careers in the sport's history. After losing her pro debut in 2005, Cyborg (29-2, 1 NC) went unbeaten in her next 21 bouts over 13 years. Her most illustrious victory during that stretch was a first-round knockout of Gina Carano in a 2009 Strikeforce main event. It was the first time two women headlined a major MMA fight card.

Cyborg won the UFC title in 2017 and successfully defended it twice before being dethroned by Amanda Nunes in 2018. Since that shocking KO loss to the consensus GOAT of women's MMA, Cyborg has won nine fights in a row. Most recently, she submitted Sara Collins in December to become the inaugural PFL women's