Vanessa Alessandra Teixeira Porto (born March 16, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and amateur boxer who competes in the flyweight division.
Background
Porto grew up in Jaú, São Paulo in a family of soccer players. She had an appreciation for martial arts from a young age and started to practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2004. She is currently married to her trainer Pedro Iglesias.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Porto began her professional MMA career in 2005. She initially fought only for Brazilian promotions such as Storm Samurai and Champions Night and faced opponents including Carina Damm, Cris Cyborg and Brazilian kickboxing champion Juliana Werner Aguiar. She defeated Aguiar on three occasions.
With a record of five wins and two losses, Porto signed with the U.S.-based Fatal Femmes Fighting promotion.
Fatal Femmes Fighting and Revolution Fight Club
Porto made her FFF debut against Tonya Evinger on July 14, 2007, at Fatal Femmes Fighting 2. She defeated Evinger via submission due to an armbar in the first round.
Porto was expected to face FFF bantamweight champion Roxanne Modafferi on November 3, 2007, at Fatal Femmes Fighting 3. However, Modafferi was removed from the event due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by Hitomi Akano. Porto defeated Akano via split decision after five rounds. Her match for the FFF bantamweight title against Modafferi happened on April 3, 2008, at Fatal Femmes Fighting 4. Porto lost via TKO for the first time in her MMA career.
Porto faced Germaine de Randamie on December 19, 2008, at Revolution Fight Club 2. She won via submission due to an armbar in the first round.
Return to Brazilian promotions
Between December 2008 and March 2011, Porto amassed five victories and suffered a single loss against Amanda Nunes. On October 28, 2011, Porto defeated Jennifer Maia via technical submission due to an armbar at Kumite MMA Combate.
Porto became the first Pink Fight champion at 132 pounds on March 10, 2012, when she knocked out Luana Teixeira at Pink Fight 2.
In mid-2012, after a long time away from American promotions, Porto signed with Invicta Fighting Championships.
Invicta Fighting Championships
Porto was expected to make her Invicta FC debut against Kelly Kobold on July 28, 2012, at Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann. However, Kobold suffered a shoulder injury and Porto instead faced Sarah D'Alelio. Porto lost the fight via submission due to a reverse triangle armbar in the first round.
Porto dropped down to 125 pounds and faced Tara LaRosa on October 6, 2012, at Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama. She won the fight via unanimous decision.
Porto then fought against Barb Honchak on April 5, 2013, at Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson in a five-round match to determine the first-ever Invicta FC flyweight champion. She lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Porto faced Zoila Frausto Gurgel on December 7, 2013, at Invicta FC 7. She won the fight via unanimous decision.
Porto was expected to face Roxanne Modafferi at Invicta FC 10: Waterson vs. Tiburcio on December 5, 2014. However she was replaced by Andrea Lee due to visa issue.
Porto the fought Roxanne Modafferi at Invicta FC 12: Kankaanpää vs. Souza on Friday, April 24, 2015. She won the fight via unanimous decision.
On March 11, 2016, Porto face Jennifer Maia second time at Invicta FC 16: Hamasaki vs. Brown. She lost the fight via unanimous decision.
At her next fight, she faced Agnieszka Niedźwiedź at Invicta FC 23: Porto vs. Niedźwiedź. She lost the fight after three round with the judges handed down a win to Niedzwiedz via a unanimous decision.
Porta was expected to face Jessica-Rose Clark on December 8, 2018, at Invicta FC 26: Maia vs. Niedwiedz; however, Clark was replaced byd Milana Dudieva.
At the weight-ins, Porta weight 127.6 Ibs, misse weight by 2.6 Ibs of the upper flyweight limit of 125 Ibs, and was fined twenty five percent of her purse. The bout proceeded at catchweight. Porta won the fight via technical knocked out on round three.
One month later, she fought against Mariana Morais on January 13, 2018, at Invicta FC 27: Kaufman vs. Kianzad. She won the fight via a rear-naked choke on round one.
Porto faced Pearl Gonzalez for the vacant Invicta FC Flyweight World Championship at Invicta FC 34 on February 15, 2019. She won the fight via technical decision after an eye poke rendered Porto unable to continue.
Porto was supposed to make her first title defense against Karina Rodríguez at Invicta FC 38: Murato vs. Ducote on November 1, 2019. However, Rodríguez missed weight by a pound and she was unable to compete for the title. She won the bout via unanimous decision.
Bellator MMA
On September 2, 2020, it was announced that Vanessa was vacating her Invicta title and signing with Bellator MMA.
As the first bout of her four-fight contract, Porto made her promotional debut against Liz Carmouche on April 9, 2021, at Bellator 256. She lost the bout via unanimous decision.
Porto was scheduled to face Ilara Joanne on June 11, 2021, at Bellator 260. However, after weigh-ins, she was deemed unfit to compete by the commission and the bout was scrapped. The bout was rescheduled for July 31, 2021, at Bellator 263. Porto won the close bout via split decision.
Porto faced Veta Arteaga on July 22, 2022, at Bellator 283. She lost the bout via guillotine choke in the second round.
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
- Invicta Fighting Championships
- Invicta FC Flyweight World Championship (one time)
- Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Jennifer Maia
- Pink Fight
- Pink Fight 132-pound champion (one time; only)
Amateur boxing
- Federação Paulista de Boxe
- São Paulo State Champion
- Jogos Abertos do Interior
- 2nd Women's Division: Silver Medal (2011, 64 kg)
Mixed martial arts record
See also
- List of female mixed martial artists
References
External links
- Professional MMA record for Vanessa Porto from Sherdog
- Vanessa Porto at Invicta FC
