Karolina Kowalkiewicz | Third Time Is The Charm

Last year, she returned to Rio, taking on Iasmin Lucindo at UFC 301, where she landed on the wrong side of the scorecards. Now, she’s back in Rio for a third time and facing a young Brazilian hopeful for a third straight fight as well.

“When I get this offer, I was like, ‘What? Again? Why don’t you like me? C’mon guys! Again, Brazil? Again, a young Brazilian girl?’” joked Kowalkiewicz, who followed up her bout with Lucindo with a fight against Denise Gomes, and now shares the Octagon with the 27-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series grad Polastri.

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“I like challenges, and this is a big challenge for me,” she added with a smile. “I know all divisions must go on — young athletes, new athletes must fight with big names, with old guard. For example, Mateusz Gamrot is fighting with one of the biggest stars of the UFC and this is a very big step for him.”

Gamrot, who stepped in on short notice to headline opposite former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, is getting his biggest opportunity to date in the UFC, just one fight after being in the “old guard” role for his bout with Ludovit Klein in May.

For Kowalkiewicz, sharing the card with her countryman and fellow American Top Team representative — as well as teammate Bia Mesquita, who makes her debut on Saturday — brings a great deal of comfort.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I’ve known Mateusz 12, maybe 15 years now. I’ve known him since KSW. We met when we started our MMA adventure. Bia is my very good friend — I learn a lot from her because her BJJ is the best in the world, so I am happy to have a lot of people from my team here.

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“ATT is like my family; it’s like my second home,” continued Kowalkiewicz, who began training at the South Florida fight camp ahead of her 2022 bout with Felice Herrig. “I love these guys, I love this gym, and I am very happy that a lot of people from ATT are here with me now.

“On Fight Week, I don’t like having my family with me, my close people with me because they distract me. I think about them, not about the fight, but with my teammates, I think only about the fight, only about recovery, cutting weight, and that’s it.”

This time around, that means focusing on sharing the Octagon with Polastri on Saturday at Farmasi Arena where the duelling strawweights will compete early in the night.

Fighting in her hometown, Polastri is looking to get back into the win column after a hard-fought loss to Loopy Godinez in Mexico City earlier this year where she won the final round on all three scorecards but ultimately came up short in her attempt to rally and secure the win.

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As Kowalkiewicz suggested, this is very much an “old guard vs next generation” pairing as Polastri is more than a dozen years her junior and has as many professional bouts as the soon-to-be 40-year-old veteran has UFC appearances.

None of that, of course, has ever dissuaded Kowalkiewicz in the past, and after an outstanding camp at American Top Team, the Polish standout is eager to make the walk, show what she’s been working on, and hopefully — finally — secure a victory in Rio de Janeiro.

“I always train very hard, but for this fight, I changed a lot of things in my training,” bega Kowalkiewicz. “I don’t like to be cocky, but I think I had one of the best fight camps in my life, so I feel good. I cannot wait for Saturday. I hope I will show what I did in these last few weeks. I cannot wait. I am ready.

“I want to prove something to myself. I am here for a third time; I can do this!”