Former Invicta atomweight champion Ferreira embraces underdog tag for PFL debut in Lagos

Elisandra Ferreira steps into the Professional Fighters League for the first time on Saturday in Lagos, Nigeria, where the former Invicta Fighting Championships atomweight champion faces undefeated local fighter Juliet Ukah — and is doing so as the underdog.

The Brazilian, known as “Lili”, has built a career on silencing sceptics. She came to MMA relatively late, having competed in muay thai and jiu-jitsu separately before taking her first professional bout with minimal preparation. A technical knockout win that night set her on a path she has refused to leave since.

“I’ve never been one to turn down a fight. I wanted to see how it would go,” she said. “I had competed in muay thai and jiu-jitsu, separately. I lost two bouts as an amateur, but it wasn’t a bad thing. It was more of a wakeup call.”

Family support was scarce from the beginning, and Ferreira says that has barely changed. “I carved my own path because of how much I wanted this,” she said. “I saw the challenge. I knew I could do it.” She now trains alongside former PFL tournament champion Larissa Pacheco, coach Marcelo Bispo, and BJJ champion Livia Felix.

Beyond the Invicta belt, Ferreira points to every fight — wins and losses alike — as formative. “Defeats were also very important to me. Those fights allowed me to grow professionally and as a person, too. They changed my point of view.”

The route to the PFL came through circumstance as much as ambition. After defending her Invicta title, she had planned to move up to strawweight within the promotion, but Invicta has not held an event since May 2025. A call from Karate Combat kept her active, and shortly after, her manager delivered the news of a PFL contract. “It’s a gigantic opportunity, a door that opened which I plan to hold onto with both hands,” she said.

Ukah, her opponent on Saturday, is unbeaten and will carry the crowd in Lagos. Ferreira, characteristically, is unbothered by the billing.