Sherdog Prospect Watch: Sabrina de Sousa

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Sabrina de Sousa could not have envisioned where combat sports would take her.

“My first martial art was capoeira. I was around seven years old,” she told Sherdog.com. “From there, I joined an academy that had a variety of martial arts, like traditional jiu-jitsu, no-gi and muay thai. I signed up for jiu-jitsu classes with the gi. I truly enjoyed it. Soon after, I added muay thai. Then I became an MMA practitioner by doing a bit of everything. Early on, I didn’t have any friends or family who suggested I become a fighter. I did it on my own, and I got to like it very much.”

After a decorated amateur career in which she rattled off 15 consecutive victories, de Sousa turned pro in December 2023 and proceeded to post back-to-back finishes in her first two appearances. She then laid claim to the vacant Shooto Brazil women’s flyweight championship with a second-round technical knockout of Sara dos Santos in May. Would-be suitors soon came calling.

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De Sousa, 24, will make her Professional Fighters League debut when she meets Saray Orozco as part of the PFL PFL 2025 World Tournament 9 undercard this Friday at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Orozco, a former LUX Fight League champion, enters the cage on the heels of consecutive losses to Sumiko Inaba and Ilara Joanne. However, only one of her seven career defeats has resulted in a finish.

“I’ve watched her fights,” de Sousa said. “She seems scrappy. She likes to bang it out, but I don’t see that she has a ground game. That’s possibly her weak point.”

De Sousa trains out of the famed Nova Uniao camp in Rio de Janeiro, where she sharpens her skills under coaches Andre Pederneiras and Pedro Falcao. “They’ll be in my corner,” she said. Ultimate Fighting Championship mainstay Ketlen Vieira served as her primary sparring partner ahead of her forthcoming clash with Orozco at 125 pounds.

When De Sousa looks at the PFL, she sees only boundless opportunity.

“I’m very happy to be in the PFL,” she said. “It’s a high-visibility promotion with a chance to become a millionaire. Currently, I’m only focused on my opponent, but that doesn’t take away my excitement about the next few fights so I can get into the world tournament [in 2026]. I’m feeling confident. I’ve already gone through relevant promotions since my amateur days. I’ve been progressively facing tougher challenges since the beginning.”