Former Bellator flyweight champion Juliana Velasquez almost announced her retirement in April, after Ekaterina Shakalova tapped her in under just over two minutes at PFL 2. Four months later, she returns to the cage for a rematch, this Friday night at PFL 9, feeling a completely different woman.
Velasquez was slated to face Taila Santos in the first round of the 2025 PFL flyweight tournament in April, but Shakalova stepped in as a replacement after Santos withdrew. The Brazilian judoka was finished
quickly, and admits she considered ending her career right then and there.
“I worked on my mental side because I was having such a hard time with my weight cut,” Velasquez told MMA Fighting. “I was no longer enjoying the process. Everything felt so heavy for me, you know? I wasn’t hungry to train and fight anymore. When the Ekaterina fight ended, I felt like leaving the gloves in the cage and saying, ‘I’ve had enough.’ But I was like, ‘No, calm down, it’s the heat of the moment. Let’s go back and think about what I’ll do with my life.’
“That’s when I realized I needed one last try, and that would be the mental part. I’m still doing that to this day, I liked it a lot, and I’m feeling a huge evolution in that aspect. In the past, I would come here [for fight week] worried about my weight, worried about not suffering too much, instead of focusing on what I have to focus on. Weight is just the consequence, I’ll have to go through that process anyway.
“I got many messages after the Ekaterina fight was over. Many critics, heavy messages, heavy hate. If I weren’t doing that mental work I would have gotten sick, you know? It touched things inside of me. Family things, heavy stuff. I had to go out and look for a psychologist, and he made me see that there’s a Juliana in there that was way stronger. I was allowing little things to affect me. That was crucial not only in my professional life, but mainly in my personal life — because that includes the professional life, and I’m no different out here than I am in there.”
Velasquez realized she had to make some internal changes after losing four of her past five, three of those against Liz Carmouche, and one external change could be a catalyst.
“I decided to change my look and be a new Juliana,” said Velasquez, who had a new haircut after many, many years. “I learned to see Juliana differently. I was a Juliana that kept her head down. Someone would say, ‘Do this,’ and I would say, ‘Ok.’ I hated confrontation, and I didn’t agree with certain things. Not this time. I put my foot down and learned to talk back, to see and do things the way it’s best for me. In the end, I’m the one that matters. If it all goes wrong, it’s on me, you know? If it goes right, cool, I’ll bear the fruits. But if it goes wrong, it’s my decision. I wasn’t following no one’s ideas. I learned that.”
“It may seem silly, but I’ve always wanted to cut my hair,” she continued. “Rio de Janeiro is pretty hot. [I thought] ‘Damn, it must feel good to have short hair.’ But everyone kept saying, ‘That’s crazy. You’ll look like a man. You’re too brute.’ And I was scared because everyone kept saying that. ‘Ok, I won’t do that.’ And one day I saw a friend of mine do that and I was like, ‘Wow, it’s so cool. You’re so courageous. You look so beautiful.’ And then I realized, ‘Why am I complimenting her, saying she’s courageous? I am, too! Come on!’ That’s when a new Juliana flourished inside of me. I couldn’t care less about people’s opinions.”
Velasquez said she feels great with the new haircut. She has been called Goku from Dragonball-Z already, and heard nice words while walking around Charlotte during fight week. But more importantly, she’s feeling beautiful and powerful.
“I looked at myself in the mirror, and that Juliana from the past [is gone],” Velasquez said. “Many people were like, ‘Come on, you’re going to recognize yourself differently because of your hair.’ It may be silly to you, but it was important for me. To change the look, to see myself in the mirror and say, ‘I’ve done what I’ve always wanted to do. I had the courage. If I did that, brother, f*ck the rest.’”
Velasquez said that her original opponent for PFL 9 was going to be Kana Watanabe, but she had to leave due to health issues. When Shakalova stepped in for a rematch, it felt like destiny.
“It’s giving me a chance to maybe show what I had to show,” Velasquez said. “I couldn’t do anything last time. She ducked when I was trying to hit her, all credit to her. I was very upset. That fight messes me up. I couldn’t sleep for a long time because I thought that, in theory, that was an easy fight. I was upset I underestimated her, and she’s not one to be underestimated. I went there so eager to knock her out that it backfired.
“I’ll be completely different this time around. My head is so prepared for this. I will try to knock her out, but at the right time. I won’t underestimate her. I’ll try to make her fall into my game instead of me going to her game like last time. I’ll do everything I can to knock her out. If that doesn’t happen, it’s all good. I just want to leave with the victory.”
