Cris Cyborg to retire from MMA in August
Combat sports veteran Cris Cyborg will enter the MMA cage for this final time this August.
Announced on Wednesday, Cyborg will take on former UFC fighter Ketlen Vieira in the main event of PFL Tampa, set for Saturday, August 22.
Set to turn 41 next month, Cyborg (29-2-0-1) has competed in UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator and Invicta, joining PFL in October 2024. She is 2-0 and is their inaugural women’s featherweight champion.
After five fights in Brazil, Cyborg rose to prominence in the now-defunct Elite XC with two straight wins before the company was absorbed by Strikeforce. She defeated Gina Carano for the inaugural featherweight title in a heavily promoted bout in August 2009, defending the title three times with the last becoming a no contest after she tested positive for PEDs.
After nearly two years away, she returned for Invicta in April 2013. She won five straight and also held their inaugural featherweight title before getting the call to go to the UFC. She went 6-1 in the Octagon from May 2016 to July 2019, winning the inaugural featherweight title before losing it to Amanda Nunes in a :51 knockout loss in December 2018. A dream fight against Ronda Rousey never materialized even though both women ripped each other in interviews for years.
She resurfaced in Bellator in January 2020 and then won their inaugural featherweight title, going 6-0 over three years.
To date, Cyborg has 24 finishes (21 knockouts and two submissions) with the Nunes loss as her only defeat after her pro debut in May 2005.
She also is undefeated as a pro boxer with a 6-0 record. She is the reigning WIBA light middleweight champion.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.