Cris Cyborg will return to mixed martial arts for one final fight.
The Professional Fighters League women’s featherweight champion will defend her title against UFC veteran Ketlen Vieira, the organization announced. The fight will headline a card on Aug. 22 at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla.
Cyborg, whose name is Cristiane Justino but uses her moniker professionally, won the inaugural PFL title when she submitted Sara Collins in France in December.
The combat sports legend from Brazil, who also won UFC, Strikeforce, Invicta and Bellator MMA titles during her two-decade fighting career, will be 41 years old by the time her fight with Viera happens.
“PFL Tampa will be a special event as it hosts the retirement fight for our champion, Cris Cyborg. She is a pioneer of not just women’s MMA, but mixed martial arts as a whole, and it has been a privilege for PFL to have her as a deserving champion” the promotion’s CEO John Martin said in an official press release. “Now she headlines one final time in the PFL cage and will stand across from a proven challenger in Ketlen Vieira, who has one mission: ruin the goodbye and take the title. This is the conclusion to the storied career of Cyborg, and I can’t wait to be there cageside to witness her create MMA history for the last time.”
Viera is a new PFL signing who recently completed a 15-fight run in the UFC that was capped off by a win over Jacqueline Cavalcanti in May. Viera’s past 10 appearances have all gone the distance, while Cyborg has only required judges’ decisions six times during her MMA career.
The 34-year-old from Brazil is a jiu-jitsu and judo black belt with notable wins over past UFC champions Holly Holm and Miesha Tate, plus competitive decision losses to Raquel Pennington and reigning UFC 135-pound champion Kayla Harrison.
Cyborg has a 29-2 professional MMA record. She lost her first pro bout in 2005 before going on a 13-year unbeaten streak.
The women’s MMA pioneer earned victories over Gina Carano, Marloes Coenen and all other top fighters in the 145-pound division early in her career and eventually joined the UFC in 2016 after the organization began expanding its women’s roster.
Cyborg began her UFC run 5-0 with five KO/TKO wins en route to becoming the featherweight champion, but then lost the belt when she was stopped by Amanda Nunes in their champion vs. champion meeting in 2018.
After leaving the UFC in 2019 following a non-title win over Felicia Spencer, Cyborg joined the now-defunct Bellator organization, where she went 6-0 before that brand folded. Cyborg has gone 2-0 under the PFL banner since debuting in October of 2024. Cyborg’s first PFL win was over the dangerous Larissa Pacheco, who’s the only woman to date to hold a win over Kayla Harrison.
Cyborg has competed in only four MMA bouts over the past four years, but has also amassed a 7-0 professional boxing record and has been campaigning for a fight with boxing great and multi-weight champion Claressa Shields.
No other matchups were announced for the Aug. 22 PFL Tampa card, but it is expected to be filled out in the coming weeks.
