Unbeaten Jungle Fight Women’s Bantamweight Champion Larissa Moreira Pacheco will make her long-awaited Octagon debut on September 13th at UFC Fight Night 51: “Silva vs Arlovski 2” in Brasilia, Brazil. The 19-year-old meets fellow rising star Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade on the card.
Globo.com first reported on plans for the fight this week. Pacheco steps in to replace Andrade’s original opponent, Valérie “Trouble” Létourneau, who was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury. Pacheco and countrywoman Andrade have combined to score 19 stoppage wins in their careers to date.
Pacheco (10-0-0) kicked off her pro career at age 17 in early 2012 and went on to score first-round victories in four fights before the end of the year. She continued her string of wins in 2013 and debuted for Jungle Fight in October. A 36-second TKO victory in her promotional debut propelled Pacheco into a Jungle Fight 135-pound women’s title bout against Mexican knockout artist Irene Aldana in December and Pacheco impressively stopped Aldana with punches in the third round. She most recently retained her belt with a submission win in April and takes a big step up in competition for her Octagon debut.
Andrade (11-3-0), much like her UFC opponent next month, has also maintained a very active fighting schedule since her pro debut as a 19-year-old in September 2011. After winning eight of her first ten fights – all inside the distance – Andrade earned a UFC contract by defeating Russian standout Milana Dudieva at ProFC 47. Her Octagon debut ended in a disappointing second-round TKO loss to former title challenger Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche, but Andrade has since bounced back with key victories over Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton and Raquel “Rocky” Pennington to get herself back in contention.
UFC Fight Night 51: “Silva vs Arlovski 2” takes place on September 13th at Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil. The event is headlined by a heavyweight rematch between Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski.
(Photo Credit: Jungle Fight)
Larissa Pacheco will destroy Jessica Andrade.
Larissa is not a technical striker (more of a brawler), but she got a tough chin and some really heavy hands. She also seems to have good sub defenses and a decent ground game. I think a good wrestler might give her trouble, but I don’t see Andrade winning this fight at all.
I’ve never seen Larissa and only know of her by her undefeated record. But I have seen Andrade in all 3 of her UFC fights and I just can’t imagine anyone destroying Andrade, much less someone who hasn’t fought in the UFC yet. It is always harder to beat an undefeated fighter, but this fight is happening in Andrade’s backyard — I don’t know of anyone other than Rousey who can go into Brazil and beat Andrade there. I think it will be a very tough fight for Pacheco.