Julia Polastri captured the biggest win of her young UFC career thus far earlier tonight (Sat., Oct. 11, 2025) at UFC Rio LIVE on ESPN+ from inside Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, putting a shocking
stop to women’s strawweight veteran Karolina Kowalkiewicz with a sensational third-round TKO (head kick and punches).
Despite the level of UFC experience that Kowalkiewicz possesses, the 39-year-old veteran entered Saturday’s fight a massive betting underdog. That’s because Kowalkiewicz has slowed down considerably over the past few years and was riding a two-fight losing streak coming into UFC Rio. It was basically a showcase matchup for Polastri, who is one of the more talented rising prospects at 115 pounds.
While Kowalkiewicz displayed grit and heart like she always does, Polastri was one step ahead of her the entire way. From the opening bell, Polastri’s hands were landing and she was much quicker, allowing her to avoid almost all counter punches coming her way. Kowalkiewicz is super durable so Polastri wasn’t able to put her out over the first 10 minutes of action, but that changed in the third round.
Out of nowhere, Polastri launched a perfectly-placed head kick that caught Kowalkiewicz flush and had her badly hurt along the cage. Polastri quickly followed up with punches in bunches to really deliver the punishment before the referee stepped in for the third-round stoppage.
Check out the video highlights below and let us know if you think this is the last time we Kowalkiewicz compete inside of the Octagon!
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