Ketlen Vieira has been suspended for six months after failing a drug test for her PFL debut against featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, which Vieira confirmed. The suspension is retroactive to the date of the fight, clearing her to compete again on March 22, 2027. The banned substance was not disclosed; Vieira says she took medication to treat a knee injury after leaving the UFC and its drug testing pool, and denies using it for a competitive advantage. Vieira missed weight by seven pounds for the bout and lost by unanimous decision.
Ketlen Vieira has been handed a six-month suspension after testing positive in a drug screen tied to her PFL debut against featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, a result Vieira has confirmed herself.
The penalty is retroactive to the date of the fight, which clears the Brazilian to compete again on March 22, 2027. The banned substance has not been disclosed. Vieira says she took medication to treat a knee injury after leaving the UFC and its drug testing pool, and she denies using it for any competitive advantage.
The bout itself went badly for Vieira before the test result surfaced. She missed weight by seven pounds and went on to lose by unanimous decision to Cyborg.
Vieira's profile
Vieira, nicknamed "Fenomeno," is 35 and fights out of Nova Uniao in Brazil. She carries a 16-5-0 record into the suspension and fights from an orthodox stance. She stands five-foot-eight, or 173 cm, with a 68-inch reach that also measures 173 cm.
Her career numbers show a steady, technical output. She lands 2.71 significant strikes per minute at 40 percent accuracy, and she averages 1.31 takedowns per 15 minutes along with 0.5 submission attempts over the same span.
Why it matters
- The suspension runs six months from the fight date, so Vieira's timeline back to competition is set at March 22, 2027.
- Her explanation centers on timing: she says she was treating a knee injury after leaving the UFC and its testing pool, which is when the medication came into play.
- The weight miss compounds the damage to a debut that ended in a unanimous decision loss to the featherweight champion.
Vieira's account is that the substance was medical, not performance-driven. The unnamed substance leaves open the specifics of how the violation was classified, but the length of the ban and the return date are now fixed.
