Julia Polastri looks to rediscover herself ahead of UFC Shanghai

Coming off a loss in April, Julia Polastri is looking to turn the page on a difficult period when she returns to the Octagon to face Jingnan Xiong at UFC Shanghai on Saturday. The Brazilian flyweight says the pressure she put on herself after joining the UFC affected her motivation and distracted her from the approach that had helped her reach the promotion.

Julia Polastri Opens Up About Motivation Struggles

After appearing on Dana White's Contender Series for the second time, Polastri made her UFC debut in June 2024 when she suffered a unanimous decision loss to Josefine Lindgren Knutsson. Since then, the Brazilian has experienced ups and downs in the promotion, compiling a 2-3 record during that period. However, Polastri believes there was a reason behind her struggles to establish herself in the UFC.

According to Polastri, she put too much pressure on herself to impress fans and the promotion after joining the UFC while also trying to build her "Psycho" persona. That focus ended up distracting her from the training routine and approach that had always been at the center of her career, affecting her motivation and performances inside the Octagon.

"When I entered the UFC, I put a lot of pressure on myself to impress people, the organization, everyone watching me, and to create this 'Psycho' persona," Polastri told Ag Fight. "All of that distracted me a little from my main focus, which had always been my training routine and giving my absolute best. I went through some things that really affected me mentally. I didn't feel like training. I had reached where I wanted to be, and it seemed to demotivate me because I wanted to impress everyone but couldn't deliver the performances I wanted."

 Julia Polastri Wants to Return to Her Roots

Reflecting on her most recent fight, Polastri realized that trying to make her performance more impressive had taken her away from her natural style. The Brazilian said her last fight served as a "wake-up call", leading her to approach this training camp differently and focus less on external expectations and more on her own strategy.

"In my last fight, I wanted to implement things that aren't really my style just to make it look better, and it didn't work out," Polastri said. "I froze and couldn't execute what I had trained. That was a wake-up call when I said, 'This is wrong. Forget everything you want to do and focus on what you've always done.' In this camp, I was able to disconnect from all the external factors. I focused on pushing my limits and going back to the essence of what I do, which is to deliver a performance and bring 'Psycho' back to the top."

Now, Polastri will look to put that change into practice when she faces Xiong in Shanghai. After struggling with the pressure that came with her UFC journey, the Brazilian hopes to show a more natural version of herself and regain momentum inside the Octagon.