Sara Collins is lined up for a massive fight at PFL Europe 4, which goes down on December 13th. The PFL featherweight championship will be contested for in the co-main event as reigning / defending titleholder Cris Cyborg and title challenger Sara Collins will step into the PFL Smart Cage on Saturday.
This has been a long time coming after cementing herself as the number one contender over a year ago and when reflecting on this long road leading up into this 145 pound title title bid, Collins said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, I asked for this fight a year ago. So it’s been a long time coming, but I have no excuses to not be prepared. I’ve been preparing for a year. So, yeah. I’m excited that it’s finally happening.”
At the end of 2024, the Australian combatant had a social media post outlining that her lone goal for 2025 was acquiring a world title in mixed martial arts. When asked how cool it was to get in a chance to achieve this goal at nearly the last minute, with this bout being this weekend, Collins stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah. I was a bit worried that it wasn’t going to happen this year, but it’s all worked out and it’s going to happen.”
The magnitude of the achievement here goes beyond a championship title though as Cris Cyborg looms large as arguably the best women’s MMA fighter of all time in the eyes of many. When asked, with all factors considered, how much getting her ideal outcome here would be a capstone achievement for her, Collins quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I mean, it’d be pretty cool, but I do keep forgetting that it is for a title. You get a shiny belt at the end. I’m more focused on just fighting Cris. Beating her is the goal and then whatever good things come with that afterwards is cool. But yeah, at the moment I’m just focusing on fighting Cris Cyborg.”
Sara Collins: the moment she finally began believing she would fight cris cyborg someday
The Brazilian powerhouse has been a figure who has loomed large throughout Collins’ whole career and when addressing that she is now in a position to test skills against Cyborg, Collins said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, for sure. When I first started training MMA before I’d even had a fight, my coaches would be like, “Come on, keep moving. We’re training to beat Cris Cyborg one day and I was like, haha, yeah, that’s never going to happen.” But turns out here we are. And I did manifest this by accident. Yeah, I’m super excited.”
When asked about if there was an epiphany moment from kind of dismissing the idea she would one day be fighting Cris Cyborg to settling into thinking that a clash with Cyborg was actually a real possibility, Collins stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I think when I got booked to fight Leah [McCourt] because she was meant to fight Cyborg, I was like, well, if I can beat her, then surely I will get the opportunity one day. So, yeah, about when I got that fight. That it kind of like was on the horizons in the back of my mind.”
Describing the massive confidence boost she got from that emphatic performance with a first round submission over a stalwart featherweight contender in the Bellator MMA cage in McCourt, Collins quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, for sure. I surprised myself. I think I surprised everyone else, but yeah, it’s definitely helped with my confidence.”
Collins’ coach is also a familiar face to somewhat more tenured MMA fans as ex-UFC vet ‘Judo’ Dan Kelly has been a big influence in coaching her. When it was mentioned how it was cool to see that Kelly is paying it forward to the next generation, and helping, in part, to guide the 35-year-old in authoring her own story as a mixed martial artist, Collins said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah. Well, Daniel was my judo coach before he was my MMA coach. I’ve been really lucky to have him in my corner throughout my whole career.”
