There is arguably no fighter on the global mixed martial arts landscape outside of Kayla Harrison’s immediate coaching staff who understands the grappling phenom’s tendencies, strengths, and physical attributes quite as well as Larissa Pacheco.
Ahead of Harrison’s high-stakes bantamweight title defense against legendary former two-division champion Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes at UFC 334 this Saturday at Madison Square Garden, Pacheco has cast her prediction for the historic pay-per-view clash. Despite Harrison’s terrifying momentum inside the Octagon, Pacheco is backing Nunes to pull off the upset, reclaim her status on the throne, and hand Harrison a definitive defeat in New York City.
The rivalry between Pacheco and Harrison is deeply rooted in combat sports history. As a former two-division PFL champion, Pacheco crossed paths with Harrison three distinct times under the Professional Fighters League banner between 2019 and 2022. While Harrison took the first two meetings via hard-fought decisions, Pacheco famously exacted her revenge in their trilogy bout, handing Harrison a stark reminder of her evolving skill set. In total, the two elite athletes have spent an exhaustive 65 minutes inside the cage trading leather, grappling for position, and pushing each other to absolute exhaustion.
That extensive familiarity is precisely why Nunes extended an invitation to Pacheco to join her training camp as a specialized partner ahead of their originally scheduled late 2025 matchup. Although that initial booking was postponed and Pacheco ultimately did not take part in the final preparations for the rescheduled UFC 334 showdown, she still lent her invaluable analytical insight and firsthand experience to the historic Madison Square Garden championship main event.
Speaking candidly with MMA Fighting, Pacheco broke down the stylistic matchup between the two titans, emphasizing the sheer breadth of tools available to the champion. "I believe [Nunes] has so many, so many, so many weapons," Pacheco expressed. "She has more weapons to win this fight than Kayla does."
While Pacheco acknowledges that Harrison is a physical anomaly—describing her as a "very strong athlete" and "the best" in mixed martial arts when it comes to raw, judo-based grappling, given her status as a two-time Olympic gold medalist—she notes that the transition of judo to mixed martial arts is an entirely different discipline with distinct variables and vulnerabilities.
"Amanda is a complete athlete," Pacheco continued, highlighting the champion’s multifaceted capabilities. "She has that grappling game. She’s very strong as well. She knows how to use her strength both in striking and in grappling, in jiu-jitsu. She’s an exceptional black belt. There’s nothing more to say. Her jiu-jitsu is impeccable and extremely high-level for MMA."
The stakes for UFC 334 could hardly be higher. Harrison enters the Octagon with an unblemished promotional record, having gone 3-0 in the UFC thus far with dominant victories over elite competition including former champion Holly Holm, surging contender Ketlen Vieira, and pioneer Julianna Peña. Remarkably, Harrison has never been finished in her professional mixed martial arts career, utilizing her suffocating wrestling and physical frame to break opponents over three or five rounds.
Yet, Nunes boasts a legendary résumé that stands on an entirely different plateau—so much so that Harrison herself has frequently referred to the Brazilian star as the greatest female mixed martial arts fighter of all time. Taking all of this into consideration, Pacheco foresees a dramatic finish rather than a prolonged scorecard battle in the heart of Manhattan.
"Even though I’ve trained with Amanda and seen how complete she is," Pacheco reflected, "it’s hard to find a weakness in her game as an athlete and say, ‘Wow, Kayla can do this or that,’ because we already know what Kayla is going to do. But there are so many possibilities, so many possibilities for Nunes to win. Amanda dominates on the ground, so if the fight goes to the ground, she can submit her easily. If it stays on the feet, she can knock her out very easily."
Pacheco admitted she cannot definitively forecast the exact method or round of the stoppage, pointing out that she was not present for the culmination of Nunes’s training camp. However, her faith in the champion’s fight-ending instincts remains absolute. "I can’t tell you how this is going to end, because I also have no idea what Amanda’s mindset is right now. It’s the continuation of her training camp, but I wasn’t there, so I didn’t see the final part of it. But based on what I saw before, she can finish the fight in any area, in any situation. The moment she sees an opening, she’s going to finish this fight."
While Pacheco watches the upcoming UFC championship drama unfold from the outside, the talented Brazilian continues to navigate her own professional combat sports career following her departure from the PFL. Pacheco has been vocal about her frustration regarding the lack of immediate offers from major MMA promotions, noting previously that the market has felt stagnant for her services.
Rather than waiting idly on the sidelines, however, Pacheco has pivotally agreed to step back into the Karate Combat pit on December 5 in Miami, Florida. Her targeted opponent for the high-profile exhibition is fellow elite combat sports veteran and one-time UFC title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva.
"I hope this makes some kind of impact, right?" Pacheco said regarding her decision to face a fellow high-level UFC veteran. "We’re trying everything we can to make sure something gets noticed. I’ve already gotten my answer from the UFC, but my manager Sam Lee and I aren’t people who accept rejection very well. We keep pushing until the very last moment. Giving up has never been something I’ve done."
Emphasizing that her competitive window is far from closing, the 32-year-old fighter remains fiercely determined to test herself against the absolute best the sport has to offer, regardless of the promotional banner.
"I’m still very young," Pacheco concluded. "Out of all those fighters, Kayla, Amanda, Norma Dumont, I’m the youngest one. I just turned 32, so I still have a lot left to do, and I have no plans to retire yet. The good thing is that if they’re leaving, and they’re willing to fight, I’m here."
