MMA great Cris Cyborg to retire after PFL Tampa

NEW YORK: The Professional Fighters League has announced that PFL Women’s Featherweight World Champion Cris Cyborg (29-2) will have her final mixed martial arts fight at PFL Tampa presented by Visit St. Pete-Clearwater on Aug. 22 at Benchmark International Arena, as she headlines against UFC veteran Ketlen “Fenomeno” Vieira (16-5).

Cyborg will enter the cage for the final time, and carries not only the PFL women’s featherweight world title, but the accomplishments of shaping women’s MMA globally. She currently sits on 29 wins, a 79 percent finish rate, a title in every organization she has signed with, remains unbeaten in eight years, and boasts a legacy in the sport that cannot be matched. 

Now she puts her PFL championship on the line one final time, as PFL newcomer and UFC veteran Ketlen Vieira is looking to spoil Cyborg’s departure from MMA and reap the rewards for herself. Vieira has spent her career competing against the best and now has the opportunity of a lifetime to upstage a legend and take the crown.

“PFL Tampa will be a special event as it hosts the retirement fight for our champion, Cris Cyborg. She is a pioneer of not just women’s MMA, but mixed martial arts as a whole, and it has been a privilege for PFL to have her as a deserving champion,” said PFL CEO John Martin.

“Now, she headlines one final time in the PFL cage and will stand across from a proven challenger in Ketlen Vieira, who has one mission: ruin the goodbye and take the title. This is the conclusion to the storied career of Cyborg, and I can’t wait to be there cageside to witness her create MMA history for the last time.”