UFC Strawweight Polyana Viana Fends Off Attack, Beats Up Potential Assailant in Rio de Janeiro

On the left is @Polyana_VianaDF, one of our @UFC fighters and on the right is the guy who tried to rob her #badfuckingidea pic.twitter.com/oHBVpS2TQt

— Dana White (@danawhite) January 7, 2019

If it wasn’t clear enough already, Polyana Viana proved that attempting to rob an Ultimate Fighting Championship athlete is an endeavor that comes with serious consequences.

On Saturday, Viana thwarted an attacker in front of her apartment complex in Rio de Janeiro. Viana told Sherdog.com that she was waiting for an Uber when she was approached by a man, who sat beside her and told her to give him her phone. The man hinted that he was armed, but Viana soon realized that the “gun” he was carrying was made out of cardboard.

“He ordered me to hand over the phone, put his hand on [the fake gun] and I gave him two punches and a kick, and after the blows I immobilized him with a [kimura] until the arrival of the police,” Viana told Sherdog.com.

The attacker, who ended up bloodied and battered from Viana’s punches and kick, was taken to a facility to treat his wounds before being transported to the police station. Viana filed a police report there, as well. The 26-year-old Brazilian fighter was uninjured in the incident.

Viana made her Octagon debut in February 2018, when she submitted Maia Kahaunaele-Stevenson with a rear-naked choke in the opening round at UFC Fight Night 125. More recently, Viana dropped a decision to J.J. Aldrich at UFC 227 on Aug. 4. The Tata Fight Team representative does not currently have a fight booked.