The year was 2017, and Vanessa Melo found out she was pregnant.
Melo, then 29, had just lost her first international bout, a fight in Finland against Suvi Salmimies. She was 5-5 as a professional MMA fighter. Her inner circle thought it was time to give up her MMA dreams and focus on being a mother.
Instead, Melo fought like a lion protecting her cubs. She went from a .500 regional circuit fighter to a UFC bantamweight on a five-fight winning streak.
“Many people doubted I would come back,” Melo told MMA Fighting ahead of her Octagon debut versus Irene Aldana in Mexico City.