Julia Polastri | Fight Like No One’s Watching

Based on her resumé, a pressure-free Polastri is a dangerous proposition. The Brazilian strawweight captured championships for the respected Shooto Brasil and LFA promotions either side of a Contender Series defeat to current flyweight contender Jasmine Jasudavicius, at 125 pounds. After that loss, Polastri returned to her natural weight class and claimed a hat-trick of victories, culminating in her LFA title win over the previously undefeated Brenda Gottig to earn another Contender Series shot. She made the opportunity count as she earned her UFC contract with a second-round submission victory over Patricia Alujas.

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The jump up to the UFC, and all the pressure that comes with it, saw Polastri go 1-2 in her first three appearances, but against former strawweight title challenger and UFC veteran Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Polastri produced a huge performance to knock out the Polish vet and prove to everyone, including herself, that she belonged on the big stage.

“Oh, [that win] means a lot, because I’m a fan of Karolina, and she is a girl so tough and so resilient,” she said. “I was ready to win the fight by decision. And then I got the knockout, and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ It was so amazing! … I think that built some confidence in me, and I couldn’t show that in the last fight because of everything else. [But] I’m bringing a lot of this confidence to this fight now.”