Share
Sports

Thief Pays the Price After Trying To Rob Female UFC Fighter at Gunpoint

Share

A thief in Brazil picked the wrong person to mess with.

On Saturday, a man in Rio de Janiero tried to rob Polyana Viana of her cellphone.

Little did he know that Viana is a UFC fighter. She proceeded to beat the tar out of him, kicking and punching him and then putting him in a chokehold until police arrived.

Trending:
Federal Judge Has Bad News for Hunter Biden, Says There's Zero Evidence His Charges Are Politically Motivated

Viana, 26, competes in the UFC’s women’s strawweight division. She has a record of 10-2.

She told MMA Junkie that she was waiting for an Uber in front of her apartment in Rio de Janeiro when she was approached by a man.

“When he saw I saw him, he sat next to me,” Viana said. “He asked me the time, I said it, and I saw he wasn’t going to leave. So I already moved to put my cellphone in my waist. And then he said, ‘Give me the phone. Don’t try to react, because I’m armed.’ Then he put his hand over (a gun), but I realized it was too soft.”

It turns out that he was armed, but with fake a cardboard gun.

“He was really close to me. So I thought, ‘If it’s a gun, he won’t have time to draw it.’ So I stood up. I threw two punches and a kick. He fell, then I caught him in a rear-naked choke. Then I sat him down in the same place we were before and said, ‘Now we’ll wait for the police.'”

Viana said she knew it wasn’t a real gun but wasn’t sure if it was a knife or something else.

Passers-by called the police while she kept him immobilized in a kimura-like hold, she told MMA Junkie.

Related:
Heated Moment Between UFC's Sean Strickland and 'Vampire Man' Machine Gun Kelly Goes Viral; Stars Have to Be Separated

They took him to the hospital to address his wounds, then to the police station, where Viana filed a police report.

She learned that the assailant had been arrested before and had only recently been released, according to MMA Junkie.

“I was fine,” Viana told MMA Junkie. “I was fine because he didn’t even react after. Since he took the punches very quickly, I think he was scared. So he didn’t react anymore. He told me to let him go, like, ‘I just asked for the time.’ I said, ‘Asked for the time my ass,’ because he saw I was very angry. I said I wouldn’t let go and that I was going to call the police.

“He said, ‘Call the police, then,’ because he was scared I was going to beat him up more.”

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , , ,
Share
Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.
Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.
Location
Massachusetts
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Sports




Conversation