After Cris Cyborg fight: Ketlen Vieira suspended for six months
The Brazilian tested positive for a banned steroidal substance after the PFL bout in August. The suspension is retroactive to the fight date.
Archive image · Photo: Web Summit / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Ketlen Vieira has been suspended for six months following her fight against Cris Cyborg at PFL Tampa on 22 August. Mike Mazzulli, director of the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation, which has run the PFL's anti-doping programme since 2025, confirmed this to Sherdog. Both the A and B samples from the in-competition test returned a steroidal substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency; Mazzulli did not name it. The suspension is retroactive to the fight date.
The bout was originally scheduled as Cyborg's first women's featherweight title defence. Because Vieira missed the limit by more than seven pounds, it went ahead as a non-title fight at 153 pounds; Cyborg won. Vieira, the PFL and the Florida Athletic Commission did not respond to Sherdog's requests for comment.
Cyborg described the circumstances as "extremely unusual" and thanked Mazzulli for a serious testing programme. "I believe clean sport deserves strong enforcement," she said. Addressing Vieira, she added: "Ketlen, I respect you." According to Sherdog, Cyborg intends to fight twice more in MMA and once in boxing.