UFC fighter Viana leaves thief bruised and battered

Rio De Janeiro, January 8: A "scared" thief was left bruised and battered by Polyana Viana after trying to steal the UFC fighter's phone in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday (January 5).

Viana was approached by a man in front of her apartment while she waited for a taxi and he was soon to discover that he picked the wrong person to target.

The Brazilian strawweight told MMAjunkie. "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 [what he claimed to be a gun], but I realised 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 discovered the man had been carrying a cutout in the shape of a handgun made out of cardboard paper.

The 26-year-old fighter said the thief was taken to an emergency care facility to get his wounds treated before heading to the police station.