Brazilian MMA fighter wins title while unknowingly 12 weeks pregnant

Kinberly Novaes, a Brazilian MMA fighter recently discovered that she had won her latest bout while she was 12 weeks pregnant.

A Brazilian MMA fighter recently discovered that she had won her latest bout while she was 12 weeks pregnant. Kinberly Novaes, a strawweight, was having trouble cutting weight ahead of her upcoming Aug. 21 fight, which compelled her to consult a doctor, who eventually told her she was six months pregnant.

“We did a morphology ultrasound last week, and the doctor said I’m 24 weeks pregnant— almost six months— and my baby is healthy and strong,” Novaes told MMAFighting.com. “I was worried because I trained hard, fought, cut weight. I suffered a lot to make weight for my last fight, couldn’t dehydrate properly, and I was already training to fight again next week, but the doctor said everything is fine.”

Novaes’ boyfriend, Jacson Carvalho, also an MMA fighter, took her to the hospital after she complained of feeling sick and tired.

“I was cutting weight for my RFA debut but couldn’t lose weight. I did a stricter diet four weeks before the fight, and I actually gained 2.2 pounds in six days. I was desperate. I realized my belly was hard, so I thought I had some intestine issue,” she told MMAFighting.com. “I took laxative and other things, but a guy that does massages for me told me to go to the doctor.”

About an hour after arriving, a blood test showed she was pregnant. Her trainer told MMAFighting.com that he takes the blame for it, as he did not require her to take a pregnancy test ahead of fighting. “I didn’t ask for the exam. That’s the truth,” Noxii promotor Bruno Barros said. “I didn’t even think about the possibility of a woman fighting while pregnant, going through camp and dehydrating and everything.”

Novaes said she won’t return to fighting until next year.