Ketlen Vieira Hit With Six-Month Ban After Failed PFL Debut Drug Test

Ketlen Vieira has been handed a six-month suspension after failing a drug test in her PFL debut against featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, the longtime UFC veteran confirmed. The ban is retroactive to the date of the August fight, which means she won't be eligible to compete again until March 22, 2027.

The specific banned substance wasn't disclosed. In a statement, Vieira said she wasn't chasing any competitive edge — she pointed instead to medication she took to treat a lingering knee injury after leaving the UFC's testing pool. For context, she spent a decade in the UFC and, by her own account, never produced a single failed test in that stretch.

How It Happened

Vieira says the window between contracts gave her a chance to finally address a knee problem she'd been managing for years, treatment she couldn't fully pursue under UFC medication restrictions. Then PFL came calling less than a month after her final Octagon win over Jacqueline Cavalcanti in May. She says the team stopped all medication the moment the deal was signed, but continued non-drug treatment — and assumed enough time had passed to clear her system before the Cyborg bout in August.

It didn't. The fight itself was already a mess before any test results landed: Vieira came in seven pounds over the limit, citing kidney and stomach pain during the cut, then dropped a unanimous decision to Cyborg. A missed weight and a failed test in the same debut is not the welcome anyone scripts for a free-agent signing.

That May win over Cavalcanti looks even more significant now. Cavalcanti, currently ranked #9 at UFC women's bantamweight with a 10-2 record, dropped that decision — making it Vieira's last clean result before everything unraveled in PFL. Vieira leaves the UFC chapter of her career with a reputation for careful supplement management, which makes the failed test all the stranger.

Cyborg, for her part, didn't let the moment pass quietly. She posted a statement thanking Mohegan Tribe athletic regulation director Mike Mazzulli for taking testing seriously and holding fighters to a high standard — a pointed nod rather than a gracious one.

So Vieira sits out until spring 2027. She says the focus now is keeping the knee healthy and her overall condition in order ahead of her next appearance. Whether PFL keeps a fighter on ice for that long after one headline-grabbing debut is the real question hanging over this one.