Larissa Pacheco Frustrated by Lack of MMA Offers in Free Agency

Former two-division PFL champion Larissa Pacheco is expressing frustration over her inability to find fight offers one year into her MMA free agency. Pacheco was released by the promotion a year after her five-round bout against Cris Cyborg and has since campaigned for deals across the sport, according to MMA Fighting.

A return to the UFC never materialized, which the 32-year-old believes was an effort by the promotion to protect current UFC bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison. Inquiries with European organizations such as KSW and Oktagon MMA also yielded no offers. Pacheco stated that promotions have told her they would struggle to find willing opponents unless those fighters demand exorbitant pay to face her.

Pacheco has competed just once in the past two years, defeating Julia Stasiuk in Karate Combat. She took that matchup specifically to prove to MMA promotions that she could make the 135-pound bantamweight limit following her championship runs at 145 and 155 pounds in the PFL. While she acknowledged Karate Combat gave her an opportunity, Pacheco stated that the MMA market has effectively closed its doors on her despite her desire to compete at the highest level.