Only fighter to defeat UFC Champion Kayla Harrison could rejoin UFC after PFL release

Larissa Pacheco Becomes A Free Agent

After going 10-0 on the regional MMA scene in her native Brazil, Pachecho had a brief two-fight bantamweight run in the UFC that saw her suffer stoppage-losses to future UFC titleholders Jessica Andrade and Germaine de Randamie.

The Brazilian missed out on a chance to return to the UFC in 2018 when she was stopped by Macy Chiasson on Season 28 of The Ultimate Fighter, and the following year she joined the PFL and lost a unanimous decision to Harrison in the first fight of their eventual trilogy.

Pacheco’s only PFL losses came at the hands of Harrison and former UFC star Cyborg, and she remains the only woman to defeat Harrison in MMA. Provided she can make the drop down to the bantamweight division again, an Octagon return for the 31-year-old could add an intriguing storyline to the UFC given after Harrison won the women’s bantamweight belt earlier this year.

Kayla Harrison Still Waiting On First Title Challenger

Following her loss to Pacheco in the finals of the 2022 PFL Lightweight Tournament, Harrison picked up one more PFL win over former UFC fighter Aspen Ladd to close out her career with the promotion.

The Olympic gold medalist made her Octagon debut at UFC 300 and submitted former bantamweight titleholder Holly Holm in the second round. Following a unanimous decision over Ketlen Vieira in her sophomore outing, Harrison took the women’s bantamweight belt from Julianna Peña via second-round kimura in the co-main event of UFC 316.

Retired UFC Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes entered the cage following Harrison’s win to tease her return for what would be a massive superfight. Things have unfortunately been fairly quiet regarding Nunes’ plans in the months following that viral faceoff, and perhaps the UFC might bring Pacheco back onto the roster in the hopes that her history with Harrison would help generate hype for an alternate title bout if “The Lioness” isn’t ready to return quite yet.