Cris Cyborg appears set to continue after points win over Ketlen Vieira at PFL Tampa
Cris Cyborg secured a unanimous decision over Ketlen Vieira at PFL Tampa in Florida on 23 August 2026 and suggested she will not retire immediately after the five-round contest. The judges scored the bout for Cyborg following a hard-fought fight that went the distance.
The 41-year-old, a PFL featherweight world champion, had been expected to end a 21-year professional MMA career that began with her pro debut in 2005. Cyborg’s record now stands at 30 wins and includes a near eight-year unbeaten run, and she also holds a 6-0 record in professional boxing. The victory fell short of the dominant performance some anticipated.
The contest lasted the full five rounds as Cyborg struggled to control the heavier Vieira, who set a constant pace throughout. Vieira’s big weight miss meant she could not win the PFL title, and she briefly wobbled Cyborg with heavy hooks in the closing moments of the second round. All three judges saw the fight in Cyborg’s favour.
The result was the sixth defeat of 34-year-old Vieira’s career, and it doubled as her opening appearance under the PFL banner when she missed weight and lost. That combination left Vieira without a PFL win on the night.
After the fight Cyborg indicated she planned to keep fighting and directed comments at potential opponents, saying: "I'm ready for anybody," Cyborg said. "Eight years undefeated. I'm ready for anybody. Any time, any weight. "[Boxing champion] Claressa Shields, the girl is scared to fight me. You're scared. "[Vieira] has more heart than you." She has pursued a fight with Claressa Shields for several years and told Shields to "eat less" so they could meet at middleweight.
Cyborg, a free agent in MMA after her win, also targeted former PFL lightweight champion Kayla Harrison, who is now in the UFC, saying: "Kayla Harrison is here? Come here," Cyborg said. "Kayla, you've been running for so long. You ran from PFL from me, now you're coming to watch my fight? "I'm ready for you. I hope you heal your neck and you go challenge Amanda Nunes. I'm here."
On the PFL undercard at the Benchmark International Arena, Briton Luke Trainer stopped Roland Dunlap in the second round of their light-heavyweight fight after dropping Dunlap with a front kick to the face; the referee stopped the contest moments later. The 30-year-old Trainer recorded his sixth consecutive victory and his 11th overall, while Afghan-born Englishman Javid Basharat and Irish welterweight Eoin Sheridan also won on the card. Separately at UFC Fight Night 285 in California, Shanelle Dyer stopped Elise Reed in the third round of a strawweight bout to improve to 8-1 and said: "Two fights in the UFC, two knockouts - that was what I do," Dyer said after the win. In a lightweight bout, MarQuel Mederos stopped Mason Jones with a standing knockout in the second round to register his 12th win; Jones, who re-signed with the UFC in 2025, suffered his first defeat since 2023, ending a seven-fight win streak and recording only the third loss of his career after three victories on the trot in the UFC.
Cyborg’s victory leaves her an unsigned fighter in MMA and she publicly invited high-profile opponents across weight classes, issuing direct challenges to both Claressa Shields and Kayla Harrison.