PFL News & FeaturesIlara Joanne, Defined by Resilience
For all but a fortunate few fighters, MMA is a rollercoaster ride,
full of soaring highs and crushing lows; the difference lies in how
they deal with those extremes. Ilara
Joanne takes them all in stride and keeps her focus on the part
she can control—namely, the future.
As Joanne prepares for her matchup with Saray Orozco at 2025 PFL World Tournament 6: Semifinals on Friday in Wichita, Kansas, she has dropped four of her last five bouts dating back to the beginning of 2023. While those losses have come against elite foes including 2025 semifinalists Liz Carmouche and Jena Bishop and 2024 runner-up Taila Santos, a return to the win column would surely be welcome.
Fighters
only get one shot! Watch the Semifinals of the PFL World Tournament
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That 1-4 skid erased the momentum Joanne built in her early run, where true to her “Arya Stark” namesake, she snuck up on the Bellator MMA women’s flyweight division with back-to-back wins over established contenders Alejandra Lara and Denise Kielholtz. Rather than long for those days, however, the 31-year-old Brazilian professes to be focused on herself and her process, trusting that the in-cage results will come.
That focus on the present, on the task at hand, includes of course her opponent. In Orozco, a 34-year-old Mexican who joined the Professional Fighters League for the first time this season, Joanne sees an intriguing challenge, but one she is prepared to face.
“I think it’s going to be an excellent fight,” she said. “Her game matches well with mine. We’ve studied my opponent’s videos so we can make best use of her weaknesses versus my strengths.”
Joanne’s training for the Orozco fight has taken place, as have most of her professional camps, in her longtime home base in northeastern Brazil.
“My preparation, as always, was at Pitbull Brothers in Natal,” she said. “We’re always looking for improvements. I’m very thankful to my team. We did our best possible work. My sparring partners were Fernanda ‘Pitbull’ and Igor Siqueira, who’s the former LFA champ.”
The PFL’s unique tournament structure, which has been altered this year into a single-elimination format, invites competitors to look past the challenge in front of them. For Joanne, who appears on Friday’s undercard before the semifinals featuring Carmouche vs. Elora Dana and Bishop against Ekaterina Shakalova, it is obvious that the winner of her fight with Orozco may be the de facto alternate should one of the finalists have to withdraw. If such a call-up happened to be against Carmouche or Bishop, there would be the added attraction of revenge. Joanne admits to thinking about the possibility but keeps in mind that it’s all for nothing if she fails to take care of business Friday.
“I won’t lie and say that I don’t think about that,” she said. “But we try to remain focused on what’s concrete, which is the fight against Saray Orozco. My plan is to remain in the PFL, hopefully after this win. I wish to keep fighting. It’s who I am and what I do. That’s who Ilara is – an MMA fighter. Without that, I’m lost.”
As Joanne prepares for her matchup with Saray Orozco at 2025 PFL World Tournament 6: Semifinals on Friday in Wichita, Kansas, she has dropped four of her last five bouts dating back to the beginning of 2023. While those losses have come against elite foes including 2025 semifinalists Liz Carmouche and Jena Bishop and 2024 runner-up Taila Santos, a return to the win column would surely be welcome.
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That 1-4 skid erased the momentum Joanne built in her early run, where true to her “Arya Stark” namesake, she snuck up on the Bellator MMA women’s flyweight division with back-to-back wins over established contenders Alejandra Lara and Denise Kielholtz. Rather than long for those days, however, the 31-year-old Brazilian professes to be focused on herself and her process, trusting that the in-cage results will come.
“My entire career can be defined by resilience,” Joanne told
Sherdog,com. “I never give up. Whether I was on a winning streak or
a losing streak, I never let that affect me. I’m always looking for
ways to improve technically and mentally. It’s crucial in our line
of work.”
That focus on the present, on the task at hand, includes of course her opponent. In Orozco, a 34-year-old Mexican who joined the Professional Fighters League for the first time this season, Joanne sees an intriguing challenge, but one she is prepared to face.
“I think it’s going to be an excellent fight,” she said. “Her game matches well with mine. We’ve studied my opponent’s videos so we can make best use of her weaknesses versus my strengths.”
Joanne’s training for the Orozco fight has taken place, as have most of her professional camps, in her longtime home base in northeastern Brazil.
“My preparation, as always, was at Pitbull Brothers in Natal,” she said. “We’re always looking for improvements. I’m very thankful to my team. We did our best possible work. My sparring partners were Fernanda ‘Pitbull’ and Igor Siqueira, who’s the former LFA champ.”
The PFL’s unique tournament structure, which has been altered this year into a single-elimination format, invites competitors to look past the challenge in front of them. For Joanne, who appears on Friday’s undercard before the semifinals featuring Carmouche vs. Elora Dana and Bishop against Ekaterina Shakalova, it is obvious that the winner of her fight with Orozco may be the de facto alternate should one of the finalists have to withdraw. If such a call-up happened to be against Carmouche or Bishop, there would be the added attraction of revenge. Joanne admits to thinking about the possibility but keeps in mind that it’s all for nothing if she fails to take care of business Friday.
“I won’t lie and say that I don’t think about that,” she said. “But we try to remain focused on what’s concrete, which is the fight against Saray Orozco. My plan is to remain in the PFL, hopefully after this win. I wish to keep fighting. It’s who I am and what I do. That’s who Ilara is – an MMA fighter. Without that, I’m lost.”
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