Marilia Morais wants to maximize the time she has left in mixed martial arts, so when the Professional Fighters League called, she listened.

The Miami-based 35-year-old Brazilian will make her promotional debut opposite Michelle Montague in a PFL 8 women’s featherweight prelim on Friday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. “I have no words to express how happy I am to be fighting in the PFL, near my home, with all my family near me,” Morais told Sherdog.com. She enters the cage with a 3-1 record, having suffered her first career setback in her most recent assignment: a second-round technical knockout loss to Rebecca Evans under the Cage Fury Fighting Championships banner in July 2023.

Montague serves as a difficult first test in the PFL. The American Top Team export has finished all five of her opponents with rear-naked chokes and looks to play a significant role in the company’s plans moving forward. Montague moved to 5-0 at a Bellator MMA event on June 22, as she submitted Karolina Sobek with her go-to maneuver in less than three minutes.

“Michelle is a great fighter and person,” Morais said. “We’ve trained together at ATT, but this is how it is with this job. Sometimes, we face people we know. The hardest fight will always be the next one. I have also been undefeated in the past. It feels great in the moment, but being undefeated does not make you unbeatable.”

Morais now operates out of the KO Zone in Miami, where she hones her skills and puts together game plans with husband and former Bellator champion Rafael Carvalho.

“We have trained keeping in mind the strengths and weaknesses that both Michelle and I have,” she said. “A striker always expects a knockout win, just as a grappler always expects a submission. Regardless, I am sure that we will put on a great show for MMA fans, showing once more why the PFL has grown so much.”

Morais views her clash with Montague as the first step in the next phase of her martial arts journey, which started with muay thai and kickboxing years ago.

“I want to establish myself in the organization, to have more fights this year and to be chasing after the belt in the future,” she said. “The 145-pound girls are incredible. I love watching the PFL’s female fighters. Now, I am one of them, too. I feel very blessed for that.”

All of Morais’ pursuits inside the cage must be balanced with her obligations at home as a wife and mother. Naysayers abound.

“I heard from managers, gyms and trainers that I would no longer be able to have a career: ‘How would I manage? Why not stop for good? Maybe your time has already passed,’” she said. “These things were said to me after becoming a mother, but if you really want something and have enough faith to sustain you on the bad days, then one day you will achieve it.”