When you have a career record of 23 victories and only 4 losses, then the promotion is bound to bring in a boogeyman to make sure that they stop you and that’s what PFL did when they clinched in Cris Cyborg to fight Larissa Pacheco at the Saudi Arabia ‘Battle of the Giants’ card. Do not be deceived by her short stature; she is one of the most destructive fighters to have ever stepped into the promotion’s Smart Cage. As she inches closer to the women’s featherweight title, one question has been lingering in the minds of the MMA community.

What’s the actual ethnicity of the featherweight title challenger? Very little is known about the fighter, who might be the new featherweight champion. Ahead of her anticipated bout against Cyborg, let’s take a look!

What is Larissa Pacheco’s ethnicity and nationality?

Born on September 7, 1994, Larissa Pacheco found her love for the art of Mixed Martial arts when he was just 15. Pacheco grew up in the streets of Marituba, Brazil which is situated miles away from the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Pacheco’s journey in the MMA world showcases the strength and tenacity that is synonymous with Brazilian fighters.

She is specifically Brazilian and represents her country on the global stage, but her ancestry and ethnicity reflect a diverse background. Her title ‘Pacheco’ is rather more Portuguese and Spanish than Brazilian. If we were to get into a more detailed analysis then the name found its origins in the pre-Roman times. This diversity can be attributed to the colonial powers who came to Brazil back in those days. Regardless, now that we know about her nationality and ethnicity, let us have a closer look at her early life.

More about Larissa Pacheco’s early life

Larissa Pacheco’s childhood was nothing but filled with challenges, she used to help her mother Maria Luciene, by selling cassava flour at the fair. Blinded by the desire to make it big in the world, Pacheco asked one of the Muay Thai instructors to train her but the trained rather made fun of her and asked her to fight a boy, who was much more experienced than her: The conclusion was her loss.

As she was leaving the arena jiu-jitsu coach from the same project, Joao Bastos, who witnessed the entire hubbub called for the young girl and asked for what she wanted, “I asked her what she wanted in life. She told me that she studied and worked at the fair, that she lived on rent with her sick mother and really wanted to fight because she needed to make money. I told her, ‘I don’t have money, but I can train you and get you fights.” This was the beginning of Pacheco’s career as a fighter.

The young Pacheco began her Muay Thai training soon after and she stayed consistent with it. A year later, she fought her first battle and after fighting multiple fights back in 2012 and 2013, Pacheco entered the Jungle fight. After defeating multiple opponents, she became the Jungle Fight Women’s Bantamweight Championship. After years of fighting, the Brazilian is looking to step inside the Octagon with the Women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. What’s your take on their battle? State your thoughts in the comments below.