Las Vegas, NV — Women’s flyweight Priscila Cachoeira had a lot to say when asked about her last performance during the UFC Vegas 59 media day this week.
Brazil’s Cachoeira (11-4) returned to the win column in February, going the distance and winning a unanimous decision opposite Ji Yeon Kim. The bout earned Fight of the Night honors, and helped erase the memory of a rough night one fight prior, which saw her miss weight, and end up submitted by Gillian Robertson after blatantly gouging Robertson’s eyes.
That led to Cachoeira’s critics calling for her to be cut by the UFC, though Robertson later said she’d forgiven the Brazilian.
Speaking via translator to media outlets including Cageside Press on Wednesday, Cachoeira called her return to the win column “a badge of honor.”
“It was a manner of honor for me to get back in the game, and show people that what happened in the fight before, the rear-naked choke, that wasn’t me,” Cachoeira stated. “Again, a matter of personal honor to get back and to show, and to tell people— becasue there’s a lot of finger pointing when we lose. People are very quick to trigger, and to point out your shortcomings and things you can’t accomplish. But I think it comes a lot from a lot of people that haven’t been where we’ve been.”
As Cachoeira noted, those critics, “they haven’t had to cut weight, they haven’t had to — I’m feeling my finger right now because I need to cut weight. And I need to cut weight, but all things just add up. And if you haven’t been here, you haven’t been in a war and the daily grind, what can you do? Can you be nicer? Can we have a little more love in our hearts and be a little more tender and gentle? Because it’s a human soul that you’re talking to here.”
At the end of the day, the issues comes down to one of respect, Cachoeira suggested. “When people point at you and say ‘you didn’t do it,’ when they point out your shortcomings as I mentioned, I’m not just here ‘rah rah’ and I want to show it to you. It’s not reactive. It’s just because I know what I’ve been through. A lot of us has been through this. And you just want to show that you’re there, and you deserve respect. And I think it becomes a human side. But I needed to get back in the game and show it to people.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 59 media day appearance by Priscila Cachoeira above. Cachoeira fights Ariane Lipski at the event this Saturday, going down at the UFC Apex.
