PFL champion Cris Cyborg picked up win No. 30 and is uncertain whether she will return to pursue No. 31.
The main event of PFL Tampa at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla., proceeded despite a huge blunder on the scale by Vieira, making herself ineligible to win the women's featherweight title. After 25 minutes of action, Cyborg retained her title, earning scores of 49-46, 48-47, and 49-46 from the official judges.
Vieira brought the fight to Cyborg from beginning to end. She was the aggressor, keeping Cyborg circling on the outside, but the volume of attacks from Cyborg kept the judges scoring rounds in Cyborg's favor. The biggest shot of the fight came from Vieira, as she buckled Cyborg with a clean punch in the closing moments of Round
2.
Cyborg battled back well, picking her shots from the outside, working leg kicks, punches to the body, and power punches upstairs. She mixed in takedowns as well, but Vieira also had success on the mat, scoring big reversals to take top position and work ground and pound.
In the final round, Cyborg turned up the pressure, but found herself on the bottom after a takedown reversal. Vieira maintained top position for a good amount of time, but Cyborg found space to kick off, and return to the feet. The fight concluded with both women swinging in a heated exchange to end the evening.
Cris Cyborg and Ketlen Vieira swing away until the final bell sounds.
— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 23, 2026
TOUGH FIGHT#PFLTampa presented by @visitspc | 📺LIVE NOW on ESPN pic.twitter.com/SSzfB6oVBT
The judges were unanimous in seeing Cyborg as the winner, avoiding a mess of a title situation had Cyborg lost. While she is still the champion, there is now uncertainty about her fighting future. This fight was the last fight on her PFL contract, and she spoke repeatedly about walking away from the sport after this one. However, during her post-fight interview, she left the door open for more fights and even called out UFC bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, who was in attendance.
If this was the final bout from the most decorated female MMA fighter ever, Cyborg will walk away on a 10-fight winning streak in MMA, after securing her first PFL featherweight title defense.
Vieira continues her recent trend of trading wins and losses over the past seven fights. Her last back-to-back wins came against former UFC champions Miesha Tate and Holly Holm in 2021 and 2022.
Full PFL Tampa results:
- Cris Cyborg def. Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46) – for women's featherweight title
- Gadzhi Rabadanov def. Tracy Reeder via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:38
- Sabrinna de Sousa def. Taila Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Luke Trainer def. Roland Dunlap via TKO (front kick, punches) – Round 2, 2:52
- Nkosi Ndebele def. Marcirley Alves via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
- Daniel Marcos def. Magomed Magomedov via TKO (referee stoppage; injury) – Round 3, 0:11
- Javid Basharat def. Movsar Ibragimov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Dakota Bush def. Morquez Forest via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Natan Schulte def. Artur Zaynukov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Gino Van Steenis def. Robert Watley via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Eoin Sheridan def. James Vake via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:09
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: PFL Tampa results: Cris Cyborg retains title, uncertain of fighting future
