Athletes
Jacqueline Cavalcanti | Bantamweight’s Dedicated Dark Horse
Ascending Portuguese Fighter Details Her Version Of Las Vegas Ahead Of Home Game On Saturday
The image most people have of Las Vegas is one crafted by reputation and pop culture impressions, personal vacations, and stories told by friends and acquaintances who ventured to the Nevada desert for a three-day binge or one-week getaway filled with the standard experiences and vices.
But not everyone who ventures to Vegas does so in search of a life lived on The Strip or filled with non-stop adventures. Some, like Portugal’s Jaqueline Cavalcanti take up residence for professional reasons and spend their days living a very structured, quiet existence.
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“Here in Las Vegas, it’s training, sleeping, eating, and training; just this,” said the ascending bantamweight, who takes on former title hopeful Mayra Bueno Silva on Saturday night at the UFC APEX. “I have a couple friends here and sometimes we make a barbecue, but not too much. My focus here is 100 percent on training.
“(Most people) come to Las Vegas for vacation, parties, but I come for living and I have my wife,” added Cavalcanti, who relocated to the city two years ago, roughly the same time she touched down in the UFC and began working her way up the divisional ladder. “My friends here are the same — they’re fighters — so we don’t have too many distractions.”
Her willingness to leave behind her life in Portugal in favor of moving to a place that gives her the best possible opportunity to make the most of her talents and chase her championship dreams tells you all you need to know about the promising 28-year-old.
Cavalcanti is unbeaten through her first four UFC appearances and carries a seven-fight winning streak into this weekend’s showdown with Bueno Silva. Already stationed at No. 11 in the bantamweight rankings — one spot behind her opponent — the rising star has been eyeing this opportunity or one like it since beating Julia Avila in February to advance to 9-1 overall.
“Before I posted Irene Aldana, I posted Mayra Bueno Silva and Karol Rosa,” recalled Cavalcanti when asked about a mid-year post on Instagram where she respectfully called out the former title challenger Aldana. “I think Karol Rosa had a fight one week after I posted, and Mayra Bueno Silva told them, ‘No!’ — she didn’t want to fight me.
“I waited a couple weeks, maybe one month, and I posted, ‘Okay, let’s go, Irene Aldana,” she added before pausing. “She’s very good, but I see her fights, and I know I can beat her.”
While nothing materialized of the call-out, the fact that Cavalcanti targeted those three veterans is another of those indications that she understands her current situation and is looking to make the most of it.
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The bantamweight division has been in a state of flux for the last couple of years following the retirement of Amanda Nunes, the decline and departure of a few other key names, and the ascent of a new wave of talent making a push forward; a group that very much includes Cavalcanti. An unbeaten record inside the Octagon and heaps of upside are usually two important variables to pack if you’re looking to fight forward, but she was realistic with her call-out as well, targeting veterans whose names ring out, but that are needing to get things moving in the right direction.
“I don’t want to have a rush because I know the girls in the Top 5 have more experience, and I have to climb the mountain,” she said when asked about targeting that specific group of athletes.
Though she allegedly declined earlier in the year, Bueno Silva has signed on to share the Octagon with Cavalcanti this weekend, and the rising divisional dark horse understands the significance of facing off against someone as established as “Sheetara.”
“For me, fighting Mayra, I see her before I started in MMA, and now is the best moment in my career,” she said with a smile. “Mayra has a lot of experience; she’s fought very good fighters — Holly Holm and Raquel Pennington. To fight her Saturday and win is a big step for my career.”
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The 34-year-old Brazilian touches down in Las Vegas in a very strange position, having suffered three consecutive setbacks and failed to secure a win over her last four fights. At the same time, she kicked off 2024 as the betting favorite in a clash with Pennington to crown a new bantamweight champion after Nunes abdicated the throne at UFC 289 the previous summer, and the two setbacks she’s suffered since came against top-ranked talents Macy Chiasson — by doctor stoppage due to a cut — and Jasmine Jasudavicius in a one-fight foray back to the flyweight division.
She is, without question, the most accomplished and skilled fighter that Cavalcanti has faced to date, which is why she sees Saturday’s contest as a potential life-changer.
“I think I’m ready, and for me, it’s the best moment,” Cavalcanti said, beaming with anticipation. “My life is fighting in the UFC. The UFC changed my life — not just my life, but the life of my coaches and my family — and fighting her and winning on Saturday, I think everything changes more.
“And I’m closer to the belt,” she added with a smile.
She’s not wrong.
While a championship opportunity is still a few wins away, Cavalcanti is the fourth-youngest fighter in the division, the youngest competitor in the Top 15 by a couple of years, and the only athlete besides champion Kayla Harrison that has had more than one fight and remains unbeaten under the UFC banner.
But it’s not just that time is on her side either: through her first four appearances, Cavalcanti has looked the part of a potential contender, showing sound fundamentals and steadily improving skills that are only going to continue to level up as she logs more appearances and garners more time training with the elite personnel at Syndicate MMA.
If you were drafting fighters outside of the current title picture with the best chance to challenge for gold in the future, Cavalcanti would likely be the No. 1 selection.
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“Everybody that has watched my fights, watched my career thought the same (thing): ‘You’ll take the belt in a couple years,’: she said with a smile. “For this to happen, I need to continue to have my mind strong, train well, and have the best people around me.”
Everyone else can have “Vegas – woohoo!”
For Cavalcanti, it is and shall remain eat, sleep, train, repeat.
UFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs Brown took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 8, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!