Larissa Pacheco explains how Karate Combat weigh-ins will be decisive for her MMA future

Truth is, Pacheco considered leaving MMA if doctors said it wouldn’t be safe for her to hit bantamweight again.

“I wouldn’t fight MMA anymore,” Pacheco said. “I’d probably move to jiu-jitsu or invest in something else. I don’t know. I’ll never be able to stop training or stop fighting, but I would channel that into something different and explore other areas of my life. I know I’ll never be able to live without fighting, but I’m also not going to risk my life or my future goals if the job no longer gives me opportunities.”

“I want to have kids, I want to have a family,” she continued. “My job doesn’t really support long-term longevity unless we start taking care of things now. I mean, imagine taking blows to the head every day, punches and everything. We already know most of the injuries that can happen. I want to be able to pass on what I’ve learned in life, my growth as a human being, to a son or daughter, to share the art, to continue the sport as well. I know I still have a lot to show people, especially those close to me, the people I love, I want to be present with them. I don’t want to end up not recognizing anyone. I don’t want to risk something like that now when I’m so close. If that hadn’t been possible, I would most likely have retired.

“The PFL is no longer had a path for me, but if another organization does, and they’re interested, I’m here. I want to work. I’d even switch, go into boxing or something else, but I need to work. I need to compete while I still have time, while I still have the health for it. I don’t want to look back and feel frustrated, thinking, ‘I could’ve tried and didn’t.’ I have the potential. My record and my performances speak for themselves. I don’t need to prove much here, everyone knows it.”

Pacheco was part of Amanda Nunes’ camp for a UFC 324 fight with Kayla Harrison in January, which got cancelled due to injury to the champion. At the time she was walking around at 165 pounds, but already started trimming down in hopes of getting something booked at bantamweight.

“We were kind of frustrated because we wanted to work,” Pacheco said, “but there’s this stigma around me like, ‘Larissa can’t make weight, Larissa can’t make weight.’ Man, I’m already very close to the weight and this fight will be at 135. It wasn’t exactly the kind of camp I wanted, especially because Karate Combat calls fights on short notice, but I already had it in my head that we could fight on May 2.”

Pacheco’s ultimate dream is returning to the UFC, especially if Harrison is on the opposite side of the cage for a fourth clash — Harrison beat her twice via decision in PFL, but lost the trilogy. Being back to the UFC, she said, would give her the chance to show “everything I’ve evolved over these years.”

“People were questioning me on Instagram, ‘Why not the UFC?’ Because the UFC doesn’t want me yet,” Pacheco said. “I think they want me to take a test fight, make weight [at 135], prove it somehow. Eventually, there will come a point where they won’t have any excuses left. Then it’ll just be, ‘We don’t want Larissa here.’ That’ll be the only reason. I’ll keep pushing for an opportunity to get in, but if not, there are other promotions like MVP, promotions in Russia, Poland. There are events all over the world.”