Yahoo Sports UFC champ Jessica Andrade describes how she 'kept my cool' while being robbed at gunpoint
UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade described for ESPN the panic she and her wife went through last week when they were robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro.
Andrade explained how her wife, Fernanda, had to tell the robbers how to drive her car away, how fortunate she felt that the robbers did not recognize her and the kindness the couple received in the immediate aftermath.
Andrade: ‘I kept my cool’
The car jacking happened at approximately 2 a.m. local time in their native Brazil on May 30. Andrade was driving a Honda HRV with her wife, Fernanda Gomes Andrade, when a motorcycle pulled next to them at a red light, Andrade told ESPN.
She said she didn’t recognize what was happening and didn’t see the gun at first.
"During the crime, I kept my cool. I'd let them take everything. I don't know how I got that calm because Fernanda was losing it. I hugged her and told her 'Everything's gonna be fine. We're going home.' "
Andrade told ESPN she was fortunate they didn’t recognize her and she didn’t use self-defense because when someone “has a gun, don’t put your life at risk.”
Robbers didn’t get belt
Andrade told ESPN they took belongings, including Gomes Andrade’s ring, as well as the vehicle. Her manager said in an initial report they also took smartphones and Andrade’s passport.
She said she was glad she didn’t have her strawweight belt that day and noted what any future robbers would get. From ESPN:
"People think I'm rich," she said. "Well, I'm not. I'm poor just like everybody else. If someone kidnaps me, they're getting nothing but a candy, a gum."
Andrade won the belt May 11 via knockout over Rose Namajunas at UFC 237 in Brazil.
Andrade’s wife helped robbers steal car
The parking brake in Honda HRVs is an electronic button rather than a lever on the console or pedal on the floor. The robbers were having trouble finding out how to release it, Andrade told ESPN, and seeing as they had a gun she said Gomes Andrade showed them how to use it so they could leave.
Gomes Andrade asked for help on Facebook finding the car directly after the car jacking. Per ESPN, police found the vehicle and the women’s IDs.
Kindness of strangers
Andrade said they first went to a drugstore where they called police, who took them to the station to testify and file a report. A woman gave them $40 for anything they might need in the meantime without their wallets.
"I didn't know if I was going to cry about the car or because of her. ... Nobody does that. I need to go back there and give her a gift," Andrade said.
MMA fighters face violence in Brazil
Polyana Viana was targeted by a mugger in January in Rio de Janeiro. The man had a cardboard gun and attempted to steal her phone, so Viana said she threw two punches and a kick then caught him in a rear-naked choke before waiting for police.
In April, a man reportedly exposed himself to fighter Joyce Vieira on the beach while she was taking photos. Photos show her attacking the man.
Crime in Brazil, a country with one of the world’s highest murder levels, took its sharpest decline in history, per an April report by Foreign Policy. The country has 17 of the 50 most homicidal cities in the world.
The year 2017 was the country’s most violent and the drop is attributed to policing and crime prevention strategies instituted in places such as Rio de Janeiro.
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