The population of Rio de Janeiro is just over 6 million. On Saturday night, an alleged mugger managed to pick out a UFC fighter among those multitudes.

UFC strawweight Polyana Viana says she was waiting for an Uber when she was approached by a man claiming to have a gun. The results weren’t pretty.

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“When he saw I saw him, he sat next to me,” Viana told MMAJunkie. “He asked me the time, I said it, and I saw he wasn’t going to leave. So I already moved to put my cell phone 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.

“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 posted photos, which later appeared on UFC president Dana White’s Instagram feed, of her bloodied and bruised alleged attacker. She kept him in a hold until police arrived. She says the man’s wounds were treated before he was taken to the station, where Viana filed a police report.

“I was fine,” Viana said. “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.”

Viana has won 10 of her 12 professional fights, and is known for finishing off opponents quickly. Until a loss on points in August she had won five fights in succession in the first round.



