LARISSA PACHECO was once living in a shared house with ten others and mowing lawns to make ends meet.
Now, she is one of the highest-paid female fighters in the world with $2million in the bank.
Pacheco has won the $1m winner-take-all Professional Fighters League’s season twice over to sky rocket her wealth.
But she still remembers growing up poor in Belem, the North of Brazil, doing anything she could to get by.
Pacheco, 30, said: “It was tough, we lived in a wooden house, ten people in there.
“Eventually I moved out, asking for favours, hopping from house to house never owning anything but there was always love and that’s what really mattered.
“I remember houses we lived in were on top of a hole, there was not even a place for us to go to the bathroom, sanitation wasn’t even a thing. So we made it through.”
Pacheco began training in Muay Thai aged 15 in a bid to earn a living through fighting – meanwhile working any and all jobs in between.
She said: “I started working at the local market at a very young age helping my family.
“I used to wake up a 4am and help us set up. From there I’d train 10-12 and after training it was a free-for-all. Whatever was available.
“Whatever I could do to bring some additional income in I would. If it was mowing lawns, I would do that, if it was helping someone move in or move out, I’d do that too.
“Carrying stuff, sowing, anything that could give me a couple of extra bucks.”
Pacheco made her pro MMA debut in 2012 and amassed an unbeaten record in Brazil before signing for the UFC.
But her life changed after signing for the PFL, where won consecutive $1m cheques in the featherweight and lightweight divisions.
Although after becoming a millionaire, long-lost family and friends began reaching out to reconnect.
She laughed: “You had all sorts of cousins, long-lost friends from childhood, family members I’d never even heard of!
“But let’s just say all those calls ended up going to voicemail.”
Pacheco now returns on Saturday in Saudi Arabia against MMA legend Cris Cyborg, 39.
