Brazilian UFC fighter Polyana Viana will return to the Octagon this Saturday as she tries to end her three-fight spate of defeats. The athlete said she is prepared for everything in her upcoming bout with Emily Whitmire and attributed her last three defeats to personal problems and the fact that she had been unable to see her son for a long time.
"I was unable to focus. Now I am much better, my family is close, training is flowing naturally, I don’t get lost anymore. I think that, in my last fight, we outlined the wrong strategy, training what I thought the girl wouldn't have. So, in this fight it was different, I trained everything, I will be prepared for whatever comes", Viana told ESPN.
Last year, Dama de Ferro - or the Iron Lady - became world-famous after UFC President Dana White posted photos of a man who had tried to rob Viana in Brazil. The young woman took down the unfortunate criminal with two punches and then subdued him with a choke move.
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Back then, social media users praised Viana for her bravery, but recently she revealed that there were some who criticised her for beating up the robber.
"I felt it was cool to show women that we are able to defend ourselves, but I also faced a lot of criticism. I ignored most of it, it was my life that was in danger and I feel like I did the right thing. Doing the right or the wrong thing, there will always be criticism. Overall, all the attention was really good for me", she told CNN.
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The young woman also revealed that she remains positive that one day she will become a UFC strawweight champion, a title currently held by China's Weili Zhang. The latter will also appear in the octagon at the UFC248 event, as she will defend her title against Polish fighter Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
UFC 248, scheduled for 7 March, will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero.
