UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade goes into detail about the mugging she and her wife went through in Rio de Janeiro.
A scary mugging incident last week left the new UFC strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade, traumatized after she and her wife, Fernanda Gomes, were robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In an interview with ESPN Brasil, ‘Bate-Estaca’ described in detail all the events that occured that night, which began when she and Gomes were approached by two men on a motorcycle while the couple waited in their car for a red sign to turn green.
“The sign turned red and I slowed down.” Jessica began. “I noticed a motorcycle and when I realized, he was already driving the wrong way. He stopped by our side and I didn’t understand a thing. I thought to myself ‘Maybe he’s lost? Will he ask us something?’ When I saw the other guy hopping off and cocking a pistol, all I thought was ‘We’re screwed’. I didn’t know what happened.
At first, Jessica tells, she thought they would only go after small belongings and not the vehicle itself. When Andrade was told to step out of the car, she thought herself and Gomes would be gunned down because the robber was unable to figure out how to unlock the car’s hand brake.
“I don’ know what happened, I lost my reaction, I didn’t understand. I got out of the car, but at no point I saw him pointing the gun to my head. I didn’t notice anything.” Jessica continued. “My car’s hand brake is a button and it was pushed. He couldn’t drive away because of it. I said ‘that’s it, he’s going to shoot us, we’re screwed.’. Then Fernanda yelled ‘the hand brake!’ and his partner warned him about it and they left.”
After the robbery, Jessica explained they were helped by a senior couple and a young woman who worked at a restaurant, who called the police for the traumatized Andrade and panicking Gomes. She also gave them 40 reais in case they needed any cash. Later on, the elder couple drove them to the police station.
“At that time, I couldn’t even remember my license plate. I didn’t know if I would cry because of losing my car or for what she (the restaurant worker) was doing for me. Nobody does that. I was so happy there, I have to buy her a present.” Andrade said. “These bad things happen, but God is always looking out for us with angels to help us when we need. He sent those three people to help us. I’m very thankful to those people.”
During the robbery, Andrade revealed not to know how she was able to remain so calm, especially with Fernanda panicking by her side, but was relieved when none of the robbers recognized her as a UFC champion.
“I lowered my head, I let them take everything, I was so calm. I don’t know where I got all that tranquility from, because Fernanda was panicking. I held her and told her it was fine, that nothing was going to happen and we would be home soon. I was lucky nobody recognized me. I had a white cloth on my head, I was well hidden, I kept my head down all the time.”
Despite being a trained fighter, Jessica emphasized how she never thought of taking on the two robbers, which Andrade believes is something manageable against unarmed criminals, but not armed ones.
“If a person robs you without a gun, you can use self-defense somehow, but when a person is armed, you can’t risk your life. We can always recover material things, but you only have one life.” said Jessica. “In times like these, I see that everyone knows me, so it was some Godly thing that I wasn’t recognized and they didn’t trying to kidnap me. People think I’m rich, but I’m poorer than all of them put together. If they kidnapped me, they wouldn’t get anything, except for a bullet.”
After the incident, the police was able to find Jessica’s vehicle and documents, but the fighter has grown cautious after the trauma, telling ESPN she couldn’t even go as far her apartment’s balcony for the first days. Now, the couple tries to always be at home by 10 PM when they need to go out at night.
In Jessica Andrade’s (20-6) last bout, she knocked out Rose Namajunas with a slam in May to become the new UFC strawweight champion. Before the win, the 27-year-old was on a three-fight winning streak, with victories over Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Tecia Torres and Claudia Gadelha.