Priscila Cachoeira’s rapid rise from crack to the UFC

Valentina Shevchenko very nearly defeated women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, twice. Now she is dropping to 125, a new division without the established depth of 135. Curiously, ‘Bullet’ is making her strawweight debut vs. league newcomer Priscila Cachoeira, at UFC Fight Night 125 on February 3.

At first glance, it doesn’t make sense, but ‘Pedrita’ Cachoeira has quite a tale to tell. She’s 8-0 and has only been fighting for 18 months. And she has risen up from a life of crack use and sexual abuse that kills many people, rather than prepares them for combat sports at the highest level.

“A series of things hurt me inside, said Cachoeira to Guilherme Cruz for MMA Fighting. “I was mistreated by my father, he said I wasn’t his daughter, he did things to hurt me. The funny thing is that I still had him as an idol.

“I played volleyball for Fluminense, but I was stabbed in the back and removed from the team. In between those two things, I was molested by someone who was a member of the family back then, my brother-in-law. And then I caught my boyfriend cheating on me.”

“I started going to parties every day and met people that used drugs. My life changed, I dropped studies and sports and started sleeping during the day and partying every night. That’s how I started using ‘loló’ [a blend of chloroform and ether], marijuana, cocaine, and crack.

“I spent a long time using crack, more than three years. My biceps were the size of my wrist. Crack almost killed me.”

In a Hollywood retelling, she stumbled into an MMA gym, Francis Ngannou-like, and was redeemed. However, her lifeline in reality was her mother, Rosimeri, who had been giving her money to buy drugs.

“I understand now that she was giving me money so I wouldn’t get to the point of prostituting or stealing things,” said Cachoeira. “I didn’t go that far.

The intervention came after a three-day crack bender.

“My vision was blurry, I was disoriented,” she said. “I wanted to leave. I looked at the door and I saw a light, I saw that someone was coming in my direction. I recognized the dress and said, ‘It’s my mother.’ The other junkies left, scared, and I wanted to leave as well because I thought she would beat me.

“She avoided the traps we set up for cops and said, ‘Let’s go home.’ She gave me a hug and we started crying. The junkies came back, applauding her, saying, ‘I wish I had a mom like yours. Don’t you ever come back here.’ I left that place and never came back. I was rescued that day.”

Cachoeira returned to sports as part of her rehabilitation. With professional volleyball out of reach, she went to a Muay Thai gym across the street.

“The drugs were getting out of my body through my sweat, she said. “I had setbacks and used drugs again, I confess, but my willpower was bigger. When I realized I was talented for fighting, I decided I wanted to do something for myself.”

“Two years ago, when I decided I was going to fight, I told my brother that I would become a UFC fighter in three years. He laughed. ‘You’re crazy, you don’t even know how to punch.’ He kind of doubted me. And here I am, two years later. When I promise something, I do it.

“My past, this dark shadow from the past, is what made me get so fast to the UFC. This past gives me strength to enter the cage and do my best.