Virna Jandiroba Says “Spiritually It Was Very Important” to Overcome Early Injury at UFC Vegas 54

Las Vegas, NV — A noticeably hobbled Virna Jandiroba appeared backstage at the UFC Apex on Saturday sporting crutches, the result of what she felt might be ligament damage suffered in the opening round of her UFC Vegas 54 strawweight bout with Angela Hill.

Coming so early in the fight, the leg injury was a hurdle Jandiroba (18-3) was forced to overcome, with the fight ultimately going the distance. The Brazilian took home a one-sided unanimous decision win.

Asked during her post-fight media scrum whether she had been forced to change up her game plan as a result of the injury, the former Invicta FC champ replied by saying “I won’t say changed much, but I did feel it buckling in the other two rounds. When I went to the corner I told my coach ‘I think there’s something wrong there,’ he’s like ‘no! there’s nothing wrong! Just keep at it, everything’s going to be alright.'”

“I think spiritually it was very important thing to me, just overcoming it and making sure that I kept steady and at the plan, even though we were getting some bumps in the road,” Jandiroba added.

While Hill didn’t have an answer for Virna Jandiroba’s grapping when all was said and done, she was able to at least avoid being submitted. That wasn’t exactly a surprise to the Brazilian, who called herself a fan of “Overkill.”

“I’ve been watching Angela for the longest time, I’ve been watching her career. I’m a big fan of hers, I’ve always said that,” Jandiroba said. “She has a beautiful history, she showed a lot of resilience, not just in the cage but outside. Just coming to the UFC, getting released, then fighting her way back up, getting back in here. You can never expect someone that is like her, that is so strong spiritually, to just give up in there. You’ve got to trust that she’s going to be there throughout the entire thing, and I’m very happy that she did, because that’s what I was expecting from her.”

Watch Virna Jandiroba’s full UFC Vegas 54 post-fight media scrum above. More coverage from the event can be found below.