A Man Tried to Mug Brazilian UFC Fighter Polyana Viana & it Didn’t Go Well For Him

By  Adriana Cataño

JJ Aldrich throws a punch at Polyana Viana in the second round of the women's straw weight bout during UFC 227 at Staples Center on August 4, 2018 in Los Angeles, United States. Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

JJ Aldrich throws a punch at Polyana Viana in the second round of the women's straw weight bout during UFC 227 at Staples Center on August 4, 2018 in Los Angeles, United States. Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

As Polyana Viana waited for an Uber in Rio de Janeiro over the weekend, a man saw what he thought was an easy target. Little did he know that Viana is a UFC fighter and that attempting to mug her would result in him becoming the subject of a viral story.

The man approached the 26-year-old fighter as she waited for an Uber outside her home. “He asked me the time, I said it, and I saw he wasn’t going to leave,” Viana told MMAJunkie. “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. 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 was unscathed from the incident, but her attacker – whose gun was actually made of cardboard – was a bit shaken up. The unnamed man needed to have his injuries treated before being taken to a police station.
UFC president Dana White posted an image of the man’s injuries (which you can see here). This isn’t the first time someone has tried to mug an MMA fighter. Back in 2014, Wesley Sousa de Araujo attempted to attack Monique Bastos and another woman. Bastos, a jiu-jitsu blue belt, put him a chokehold, and Sousa de Araujo ended up crying for his dad.
Polyana Viana