The only thing that might be worse than running into a karate studio when trying to kidnap someone might be trying to rob an MMA fighter.
26-year-old Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter Polyana Viana told MMA Junkie that as she was waiting in front of her Rio de Janeiro apartment for an Uber, a man approached her and asked her for the time — and then said he had a gun and demanded her cellphone.
“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,’” she said.
The would-be robber’s gun turned out to be a cardboard cutout.
Viana kept the suspect subdued while passersbys called the police. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
UFC President Dana White posted about the incident on Instagram: