LAS VEGAS – UFC strawweight Polyana Viana couldn’t have closed out her year in the cage better than she did Saturday, could she?
Viana obliterated Jinh Yu Frey on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 214, landing a vicious series of punches that floored her opponent and earned her the knockout win in 47 seconds at the UFC Apex.
The win meant Viana (13-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) rebounded from a unanimous decision loss to Tabatha Ricci in her only other fight of 2022 in May. It was also her first knockout win in eight fights since joining the UFC 2018. And as if that wasn’t enough, Viana earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for her effort.
“I’m from jiu-jitsu, so most of my fights are submissions, which I really like,” Viana told reporters afterward through an interpreter. “This is my first knockout (in the UFC). Of course, it ranks up there.”
She continued, “We came for the knockout. I didn’t expect it to come that fast, but we came for the knockout.”
Like other Brazilians on the card, Viana dealt with travel issues getting to Las Vegas for fight week in the aftermath of the country’s presidential election. While the card resulted in a record-tying four fighters missing weight, Viana wasn’t one of them – none of the Brazilians were – despite the situation.
“This really got in my way. It was the hardest time I’ve ever had to drop weight,” Viana said. “… I cried in the bathtub. I thanked my team for being around me. They wouldn’t have ever let me give up.
“It’s not the responsibility of the athlete to win per se, but it is the responsibility of the athlete to make weight.”
With a difficult fight week and rewarding victory behind her, Viana, 30, is turning her attention to 2023. Winner of three of her past four fights, Viana said she’d like to compete four times next year in hopes of making a run at the 115-pound title.
She knows precisely when she’d like to start.
“I have a date and location I’d like to fight – in Rio on the 21st of January (UFC 283),” Viana said. “Let’s see what the UFC comes up with (for an opponent.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 214.
