This morning in Brazil, UFC Champion Jessica Andrade was the victim of an armed robbery but thankfully, was left unharmed.
According to Andrade's wife Fernanda Gomes, the UFC Strawweight titleholder had her vehicle stopped and was threatened at gunpoint. Both women were forced to hand over their cellphones before having their vehicle taken as well. Andrade's manager, Tiago Okamura, confirmed the incident and in a comment to MMA Junkie, confirmed that the champion was unharmed.
“She’s OK,” he said. “They took her documents, they took the car, they took phones, so we just spent the day doing paperwork and canceling credit cards. … She did a (police) report, and also people are looking for the car. But right now, we’re just glad that nothing bad happened. Nothing major that can’t be regained. Both her and her wife are safe, so that’s all that matters.
“They were a bit shook, so I didn’t get into much detail. We just had to make sure the damage wasn’t bigger than it was, so that was the main work for the day. They are traveling to the U.S. in a couple of weeks (for a holiday), and Jessica had her passport on her, so we had to sort that out, too.”
Nonetheless, Okamura also made it clear that Andrade is very unlikely to move based on this event alone.“She’s not going to be the first one, she’s not going to be the last one – it’s just unfortunate. She has her whole structure down there. She has her whole team, so I think it would be a terrible problem to move them. She’s got a great structure there. We have some of the best coaches there training with her on a daily basis. Her family is there. As much as there is crime there, it’s safer than Rio.”
This all comes just weeks after Andrade's spectacular title win of course, unforgettably slamming Rose Namajunas to the mat and becoming 115 pound champion in the process. It's unclear when she'll first defend her title but frankly, that's not currently the focus as Andrade and Gomes understandably hope to see the burglars caught.
