Cris Cyborg: from Curitiba handball courts to five MMA world titles | Ultimate Fighter Reunion

Why fans still care

CRIS CYBORG has been a featherweight champion in five different promotions. She fights forward, attacks the body and finishes. Twenty-one of her 30 MMA wins have come by knockout. Her fight with Gina Carano in 2009 put women in the main event of a major MMA card for the first time.

Early life

She was born on 9 July 1985 in Curitiba, Brazil. She started playing handball at school at about 12 and went on to play for the Paraná state team. A friend’s father, Jorge Karam, pushed her to try Muay Thai at Chute Boxe in Curitiba. After the first class she came back the next day. “How did I not discover this before?” she remembered thinking.

Getting started

About four months after she began, Chute Boxe entered her in her first professional fight, in May 2005. She lost it. She was the only woman on Chute Boxe’s main team and sparred with the men. “I have a little bit of each of them in my style,” she said. She won her next four fights in Brazil, and she didn’t lose again for 13 years.

Career chapters

1. 2005Professional debut
2. 2008US debut
3. 2009Stops Gina Carano for the Strikeforce title
4. 2013Wins the Invicta FC title
5. 2016UFC debut in Curitiba
6. 2017Wins the UFC featherweight title, then beats Holly Holm
7. 2018Loses to Amanda Nunes, Who’s Who number 6
8. 2020Wins the Bellator title on her debut
9. 2024Wins a PFL title, a fifth major promotion
10. 2025Wins the PFL women’s featherweight world championship
11. 2026Beats Ketlen Vieira for her 30th MMA win

Strikeforce and Invicta 2008 to 2016

After her US debut in 2008 she beat Shayna Baszler, Yoko Takahashi and Hitomi Akano. On 15 August 2009 in San Jose she stopped Gina Carano at the end of the first round to win the Strikeforce 145 lb title. Sports Illustrated called it the first major MMA card to have women in its main event, and more than 13,500 fans watched. She defended the title against Marloes Coenen and Jan Finney. In 2013 she beat Coenen again to win the Invicta FC featherweight title.

UFC 2016 to 2019

Her UFC debut came at UFC 198 in her home town of Curitiba in May 2016, a first-round stoppage of Leslie Smith. In July 2017 she stopped Tonya Evinger with knees in the third round to win the UFC featherweight title. That December she beat Holly Holm over five rounds at UFC 219, which won Fight of the Night. On 29 December 2018, in the UFC’s first fight between two reigning women’s champions, Amanda Nunes, Who’s Who number 6 knocked her out in 51 seconds. It was her first loss since her debut. “Today was not my day,” she said. She beat Felicia Spencer in 2019, her last UFC fight.

Bellator 2020 to 2023

On her Bellator debut in January 2020 she stopped Julia Budd with body shots in the fourth round to win the featherweight title. CBS Sports said it made her the first fighter to win world titles in four promotions. She defended it five times, against Arlene Blencowe twice, Leslie Smith, Sinead Kavanagh and Cat Zingano.

PFL 2024 to now

In October 2024 she beat Larissa Pacheco on a unanimous decision to win the PFL Super Fights featherweight title. CBS Sports called her the first fighter to win titles in five major promotions. In December 2025 in Lyon she submitted the previously unbeaten Sara Collins in the third round to win the PFL women’s featherweight world championship. In August 2026 in Tampa she beat Ketlen Vieira on a unanimous decision for her 30th MMA win. She hasn’t announced a retirement.

Boxing

She also boxes professionally and was unbeaten at 7 and 0 as of June 2026.

Style, technique and the corner

How she fights

She’s an aggressive pressure striker. A Sherdog feature traced that aggression partly to her early years with the Chute Boxe team. She hurts opponents to the body: she knocked out Jan Finney with a knee to the body, stopped Tonya Evinger with knees and finished Julia Budd with body shots. Against Holm she landed hard knees in the clinch, and against Pacheco she showed what CBS called an “evolving wrestling game”. Her coach Rafael Cordeiro named courage as her main weapon.

Teams and gyms

She started at Chute Boxe in Curitiba, where Rafael Cordeiro was with her from her first steps. In her UFC years Jason Parillo was her long-time striking coach. Parillo said she “trains all day long. She gets up and runs every morning”.

Stories people still tell

1. The first women’s main event.

   Carano against Cyborg in 2009 was the first major MMA card headlined by women.

2. Thirteen years unbeaten.

   After losing her debut in 2005 she didn’t lose again until December 2018.

3. Five promotions.

   She has won titles in Strikeforce, Invicta FC, the UFC, Bellator and the PFL.

Legacy

She has lost only twice in her professional MMA career and has held featherweight titles in five major promotions.