Throwback: Here's what happened when a robber tried to mug a female UFC fighter

In 2019, a UFC strawweight fighter, Polyana Viana, was waiting for an Uber outside her apartment in Rio de Janeiro when a mugger approached her and demanded her phone.

The man claimed to be armed, but Viana was not intimidated. She quickly brought the mugger down with two punches and a kick, then subdued him with a rear-naked choke hold until the police arrived.

She discussed the incident while talking to TMZ Sports and said this:

"When he saw I saw him, he sat next to me. 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..."

Watch the interview below:

According to the UFC fighter, the mugger was already close to her when she noticed him, suggesting he was trying to be sneaky. Later, Viana discovered that the gun the mugger had was not real, just a cardboard cutout.

Polyana Viana also described the incident to MMA Junkie and said this:

"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.'"

Read the full article here.

At the time of the incident, Viana was alone, so she asked passersby to call the police. The UFC strawweight also immobilized the mugger's hand with a kimura hold until the authorities arrived. The mugger was taken to an emergency care facility and then to the police station.