As PFL struggles to e book a featherweight showdown between firm champion Larissa Pacheco and Bellator titleholder Cris Cyborg, the previous UFC star continues her run in boxing.
Cyborg introduced by way of press launch that she is slated to face Widnelly Figueroa in the principle occasion of Inexperienced Bay Combat Night time in Inexperienced Bay, Wisc., on April 27. The 154-pound match can be contested in 4 two-minute rounds with 10oz gloves.
Cyborg is 2-0 as an expert boxer, having knocked out Kelsey Wickstrum in her most up-to-date look in January. The Brazilian, who received a call over fellow Bellator veteran Gabrielle Holloway in her debut, final fought in MMA in October 2023, knocking out Cat Zingano inside one spherical.
Figueroa is 0-2 as an expert and hasn’t fought since 2017, when she misplaced by way of first-round knockout to Olympic boxer Mikaela Mayer, who was making her transition to professional boxing on the time.
In keeping with the discharge, Cyborg determined to take a boxing match “regardless of her wishes for a return to MMA and a matchup towards 2x PFL champion Larissa Pacheco,” including she wasn’t given a date by the MMA promotion.
“I used to be hopeful to be preventing Pacheco in June which gave me restricted dates to pursue a boxing struggle,” Cyborg acknowledged within the launch. “Figueroa is a troublesome opponent who has been within the ring with boxing Olympians with much more expertise than me. I’ve been coaching laborious and am hoping to proceed displaying the enhancements I’m making in my boxing expertise.
“I need to show to the folks in boxing that my KO energy in MMA can translate into KO energy with the larger gloves. I’m engaged on my boxing strategies in order that I’m going to have the ability to ship the kind of struggle ending finishes followers need to see. I’m trying to deliver pleasure to ladies’s boxing like I’ve finished in WMMA.”
