Her women’s featherweight title fight at PFL Tampa against Ketlen Vieira is being billed as her retirement bout, but Cris Cyborg is leaving the door open for more.
Cyborg (29-2, 1NC) is looking for her thirtieth win in professional MMA when she takes on former UFC contender Vieira in the main event on August 22 in Tampa, Florida. That’s a nice round number, and something that has yet to be achieved by a female fighter in a major promotion (Amanda Nunes has 23 wins, Jessica Andrade 26).
Discussing the situation she finds herself in with media outlets including Cageside Press as the PFL kicked off its Summer Series this past week, Cyborg noted that in reality the bout is the last she’s contractually obligated for.
“It is my last fight, last fight on my contract, but of course after my fight I want to sit down with my family, my team. We have a lot of plans outside MMA life, but I’m very excited, just focused on doing my best this next fight.”
Of course, there are other possibilities, including boxing, and Netflix’s MVP MMA. Names like Holly Holm and Miesha Tate were suggested, with Cyborg telling Cageside Press that boxing is still very much in play.
“I can tell you, I’m gonna be making after, some boxing fights. I still have a dream, fight for the WBC belt and I’ve been training,” she stated. “I just got my WIBA belt in boxing. But I wanna just think about Ketlen next. I want to see how I feel, see how camp is going, how my body feels.”
MMA may still be in the cards as well. It seems to all come down to opportunities, and how her body feels. On that front, Cyborg noted that health-wise, she’s had a fortuitous run. “I love what I do, and I’m doing this for so long, but I’m really very blessed about not having any bad injuries the whole career. But I really just want to feel this fight, how it’s going to be and then that’s it.”
The 40-year old Brazilian, who now calls California home, added that she feels “blessed to have the opportunity to fight one more time.” And over the past five years or so, she’s been treating every fight like it could be her last. “I always think, me and my team, ‘Cris, enjoy every single moment, because there’s gonna be a time you’re not going to have more. So enjoy being in the ring, enjoy training, it could be a the last.’ So every fight [for] five years, I say ‘it could be the last, it could be the last.’ That has me very excited for this fight. Happy.”
Watch Cris Cyborg’s full media appearance ahead of PFL Tampa above.
