Priscilla Cachoeira Is Bringing The Ferocity And Dedication
The Powerful Flyweight Is Back In Action At UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs Blaydes
The hardest part of training camp for Priscila Cachoeira isn’t the sparring, the weight cut or the daily grind in the MMA Masters gym. It’s leaving her 11-year-old son, Juan Marcelo, at home in Brazil as she goes to chase a dream for both of them.
“Each time I leave Brazil, a piece of my heart stays behind,” said Cachoeira. “Leaving my son is by far the hardest part. My mom, an incredible lady in her own right, is helping me raise my son and they have such a beautiful relationship. If not for my mom, I am not sure I could make this journey. But my vision is on the bigger prize and the reason I have been able to sacrifice time with my son. We both understand that, in part, I fight for a better future for him and my mother.”
On Saturday, Cachoeira will be in Las Vegas, putting a two-fight winning streak on the line against fellow Brazilian Karine Silva. It’s a pivotal bout for the 34-year-old, who had the best year of her career in 2022, as she defeated Ji Yeon Kim and Ariane Lipski.
Pavlovich vs Blaydes Fight By Fight Preview
“Indeed, 2022 was big,” Cachoeira agrees. “My faith tells me the best is yet to come. 2023 should be the year I place myself in contention for consideration for the world title.”
To be talking like that wasn’t even a consideration when she made her UFC debut in 2018, against Valentina Shevchenko, no less. That bout was a one-sided defeat to the future queen of the division, and many wondered if Cachoeira belonged among the best flyweights in the world. She did, she just needed the time to get on track in the Octagon, because as long as the “Zombie Girl” was given a chance to succeed, she was not going to quit.
“My resilience comes from my past,” she said. “I now see my struggles as a blessing and a gift. I draw strength from those struggles, which transpire into the resilience you see in the Octagon.”
Two more losses to Molly McCann and Luana Carolina would follow the Shevchenko fight, but that resilience, which got her through the horrors of sexual abuse, drug addiction and bad relationships, began to show up on fight night. And since her decision defeat to Carolina in 2019, she’s gone 4-1, with knockouts of Shana Dobson and Gina Mazany added to the aforementioned victories over Kim and Lipski.
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“My focus and faith are greater than ever,” she said when asked what the turning point was for her. “I fight for a cause deeper than myself. I truly believe that God has given me this platform as a means to fight for those women that are also victims, the victims whose voices are unheard. I fight for them, as well. God has given me the ability to fight, and my fight is for them.”
That can’t be easy, especially when staring at a record that went from 8-0 to 8-3 in a little over a year. But Cachoeira never stopped believing that things would turn around if she just kept fighting in the Octagon like she did in life.
“The fans and the audience do not see personal failures, they only see success,” she said. “There were many moments when I wanted to quit when it all seemed so overwhelming. But my faith and my incredible mom would not allow me to fail. I draw strength from my faith, my mom, and the platform I've been given to speak for those women without voices. It is such a humbling experience, it reminds me every time that I cannot give up and that my sacrifices are worth every step of the way.”
Add in her trips to Florida to work with the squad led by Daniel Valverde and Cesar Carneiro, and she’s gone from a fighter on the brink of being cut to one on the brink of entering the Top 15 in a wide-open division now ruled by Alexa Grasso, not Shevchenko.
View Cachoeira's Athlete Profile
“It really does feel like home,” she said. “Training with MMA Masters has been a blessing. It feels like the closest thing to home I felt in many years. Their knowledge of the sport, techniques, and caring nature is so unique. In addition, Florida's climate is incredible, and the community has been so welcoming. It's home now.”
All that’s left is to take the best year of her career and make it even better in 2023. That’s a challenge Cachoeira is more than up for.
“You should expect a focused and well-trained fighter, a fighter that gives every bit of energy in the Octagon, a fighter that fights more than ever for the greater good, a fighter that will soon be in contention for the title and will not back down because, at the end of the day, I am a fighter who has been blessed with ferocity, dedication, and the right people in my corner, both inside and outside the ring.”
