Once
Larissa
Pacheco reached the summit as a lightweight, talk soon turned
to whether or not she could do so 10 pounds down the ladder.
The well-rounded Brazilian will begin her pursuit of a
Professional Fighters League title in a second weight class
when she meets former
Bellator
MMA champion
Julia Budd in
the
PFL 2 headliner on Friday inside The Theater at Virgin Hotels
in Las Vegas. Pacheco struts into the start of her 2023 campaign on
the strength of a six-fight winning streak that now spans more than
three years. She carries an 8-2 record in the PFL, having emerged
as one of the promotion’s pillars. Budd, meanwhile, has dropped
back-to-back bouts for the first time in her career. She last
fought at the 2022 PFL Championships, where she wound up on the
wrong side of a split decision against
Aspen Ladd
on Nov. 25.
As Pacheco and Budd approach their forthcoming showdown at 145
pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to
this point:
28: Years of age for Pacheco, who was born in Belem, Brazil, on
Sept. 7, 1994.
8: Pacheco wins by submission, accounting for 42% of her career
total (19). Her methods of choice: two armbars, two triangle
chokes, two guillotine chokes, one anaconda choke and one keylock.
Pacheco owns nine other wins by knockout or technical knockout
(47%) and two more by decision (11%).
51: Total strikes by which Pacheco was outlanded in her two
Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances. She connected on
just 24 strikes while absorbing 75 in return.
2: Sub-minute stoppages on the Pacheco resume. She wrecked
Dinha
Wollstaein with punches in 36 seconds at Jungle Fight 59 in
October 2013 and cut down
Julija
Pajic with punches in 51 seconds at PFL 3 in May 2021.
49: Combined victories between the three opponents—Harrison
(twice),
Germaine
de Randamie and
Jessica
Andrade—who have defeated Pacheco. They sport a cumulative .766
winning percentage at 49-15.
39: Years of age for Budd, who was born on July 4, 1983 in Roberts
Creek, British Columbia.
6: Budd victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for
38% of her career total (16). Her list of victims includes
Olga Rubin,
Talita
Nogueira and
Marloes
Coenen. Budd holds one other victory by submission (6%)—she
subdued
Mollie
Estes with a rear-naked choke at an
Invicta Fighting Championships event in April 2013—and nine
more by decision (56%).
134: Seconds needed for Budd to dispatch Rubin with a body kick and
follow-up punches at Bellator 224 on July 12, 2019. Nearly four
years later, it remains her fastest finish to date.
1,058: Days spent by Budd as undisputed Bellator women’s
featherweight champion. She captured the title with fourth-round
technical knockout of the aforementioned Coenen at Bellator 174 on
March 3, 2017, retained it on three subsequent occasions and then
surrendered it in a fourth-round technical knockout loss to
Cristiane
“Cyborg” Justino at Bellator 238 on Jan. 25, 2020.
.833: Cumulative winning percentage between the five
opponents—Ladd, Justino,
Genah
Fabian,
Ronda
Rousey and
Amanda
Nunes—who have beaten Budd. They boast a combined record of
75-15.