Preview: PFL 8 ‘Ferreira vs. Greene’

Women’s Featherweights

Larissa Pacheco (21-4, 9-3 PFL) vs. Olena Kolesnyk (9-5, 4-3 PFL)

At this point, Kolesnyk has to feel like she has drawn the short straw during her PFL tenure, as this will be the third time she has faced Pacheco in slightly more than two years. On the first two occasions, Kolesnyk was finished inside of a round. The Ukrainian will hope that the third time is the charm in a different weight class. There is not much to be gained from Kolesnyk’s last outing, where she cruised past an overmatched Yoko Higashi. However, Kolesnyk has shown the ability to be more technical in other bouts, including a majority decision victory over UFC veteran Aspen Ladd at PFL 2. If Kolesnyk can utilize intelligent movement, counter effectively and stay active with leg kicks, she might be able to pull off the upset. However, Pacheco has a knack for backing Kolesnyk into the fence, baiting her into a brawl and making her pay for her aggression. When Kolesnyk decides to bite down on her mouthpiece and swing for the fences, her defense leaves plenty to be desired; and she simply lacks the power to go blow-for-blow with Pacheco in a slugfest.

Pacheco, meanwhile, got back to her marauding ways with a 45-second finish of Amber Leibrock at PFL 5. While the Joao Bastos Fight Team member has plenty of finishes on her record, she relies on measured aggression, looking to walk her foes down and land her straight right and left hook before flurrying when she senses the end is near. So far, Pacheco has shown no adverse effects from cutting to 145 pounds after multiple seasons at lightweight.

Kolsenyk’s best hope is to frustrate Pacheco and drag the fight out, but that is no guarantee, either: The Brazilian is solid in the clinch and can land takedowns, as well, so if the fight shifts gears, she is more than capable of holding her own. Perhaps Kolesnyk can find hope in the fact that Pacheco got the best of Kayla Harrison on the third try, but a more attainable goal would be to make it past the opening stanza. Either way, Pacheco improves to 3-0 against Kolesnyk with another stoppage victory.

Jump To »
Ferreira vs. Greene
Pacheco vs. Kolesnyk
Goltsov vs. Heiderman
Mokhnatkina vs. Leibrock
Kelly vs. Nelson
The Prelims