Ketlen Vieira Hit With Six-Month Ban After Failed Drug Test Following Cyborg Fight

Ketlen Vieira has been suspended for six months after testing positive for a banned steroidal substance around her high-profile fight with Cris Cyborg, in the latest doping case to shake the women's featherweight division.

Mike Mazzulli, director of the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation, told Sherdog that both Vieira's A and B samples returned the same adverse finding. Mazzulli declined to name the substance but confirmed the six-month suspension is retroactive to the date of the fight. Vieira had been provisionally suspended while the B sample was analyzed.

The bout, staged in Florida, was meant to be the first defense of Cyborg's PFL women's featherweight title. But the week collapsed into chaos when Vieira missed weight by more than seven pounds, prompting Cyborg — who had made championship weight — to salvage the main event by agreeing to a non-title contest at 153 pounds.

Vieira spent nearly a decade in the UFC, going 10-5 in the Octagon before her contract ended after a decision win over Jacqueline Cavalcanti in May. The UFC chose not to re-sign her, and the Cyborg fight was supposed to be her fresh start in the PFL.

Cyborg, 41, who captured the belt by beating Sara Collins late last year, praised the enforcement: "Thank you to Mike Mazzulli and everyone involved in maintaining a serious testing program. I believe clean sport deserves strong enforcement." The Mohegan Tribe body replaced the United States Anti-Doping Agency as the PFL's anti-doping partner in 2025.