Single mom, Invicta FC’s Viviane Pereira details financial struggles after birth, surgery

Invicta FC fighter Viviane Pereira was kicked out of Dragon Kombat when she informed team leader Marcos Batista she was expecting his baby. A year later, “Sucuri” is still struggling to resume her career.

A former UFC fighter currently under contract with Invicta FC, Pereira gave birth to Ravi in December 2020. But the father, her ex-coach Batista, was no longer in the picture.

Under a lot of stress while trying to raise a child as a Brazilian athlete with limited resources and no support during a pandemic, Pereira has created a crowdfunding campaign to raise $12,000 so she can make ends meet before she’s finally able to make money as a MMA fighter.

“I didn’t expect this pregnancy,” she told MMA Fighting. “When I told [Batista] I was pregnancy, he said right off the bat he didn’t want it and blocked us from everything, kicked me out of the team. He’s still avoiding judicial intimations, not showing up in court. It’s quite complicated. He never helped me or the baby.

“I thought [motherhood] would go differently because I was with the father of the baby since I was 15,” she continued. “I began training with him when I was around 12, and we started dating when I was 15, and everything was fine, but then all of a sudden he changed completely. We spent almost 12 years together.”

Batista declined to comment.

Pereira joined Astra Fight Team as her new home after the birth of her son, but suffered a left shoulder injury during wrestling practice while attempting to return to competition in September 2019. She underwent surgery in June and, if all goes according to plans, should be cleared to fight again in early 2022.

A single mother, Pereira lost sponsors and is unable to make money through fighting or teaching. Her sole income at the moment is a governmental relief program that gets her less than $40 a month, she said. Invicta FC has only held two cards in 2021, and “Sucuri” hopes to get fights in local promotions in Brazil until she’s called for another bout in the United States.

Pereira currently holds a 14-3 record that includes UFC wins over Jamie Moyle and Valerie Letourneau. The 27-year-old was let go by the UFC following losses to Tatiana Suarez and Yan Xiaonan, and scored her first Invicta FC victory with a decision over Alesha Zappitella in June 2019.

“Since Invicta allows you to take fights elsewhere if you notify them in advance, I’m in talks with new teams and promotions here to see if I can fight while I wait for Invicta to give me one,” Pereira said. “That’s my plan. And I’ll also try to teach seminars and teach classes to make ends meet for now.”