Gillian Robertson trained with UFC 297 opponent Polyana Viana in the past, eyes TKO victory in front of hometown crowd

Gillian Robertson is eager to fight back home in Canada.

Robertson hasn’t fought in Canada since July of 2019 at UFC 240, where she scored a first round TKO victory over Sarah Frota. After missing out on the UFC’s return to Vancouver last June, Robertson was ecstatic when she found out she’d be on UFC 297 in Toronto.

“Hometown fight. I can’t wait to be back in Canada, I can’t wait to be back in front of a hometown crowd, I’m just super excited for it… I have a lot of friends and family who hit me up to get tickets, so I know there will be a huge ‘Savage’ support in the crowd. But, the Canadian crowd brings it anyway. My last fight in Edmonton was my first and only TKO and I’m going to call Canada my good omen and this will be my second,” Robertson said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.

When Gillian Robertson makes the walk to the Octagon at UFC 297, she will be facing Polyana Viana whom she is familiar with. Before Robertson left ATT, the Canadian had done some training with Viana, but she doesn’t think it will play much of a factor in the fight as it was years ago.

“We trained together at ATT, not much, but we did get a couple of rounds in together. I know she is a well-versed grappler, I’ve watched her fight a few times, and is a threat on the feet, she’s a well-rounded opponent… You can’t take too much away from training. I fought Mariya Agapova last year and we trained together a lot, but in the fight, she’s now throwing elbows at my head which I never got in the training room before. It’s just different elements, so you can’t compare them,” Robertson said.

Although Gillian Robertson says past training sessions won’t impact their UFC 297 fight at all, the Canadian strawweight is confident she will be able to get Polyana Viana to the mat. If she does get Viana to the mat, Robertson is hopeful to pick up a submission win.

“My game plan going into a lot of fights is just getting them down and beating them up until they give me the submission. I’d love to go for the TKO to add it to my record and my resume,” Robertson said.

If Robertson gets the stoppage win at UFC 297, the hope is to get a ranked opponent next and start working her way up the strawweight ranks.

“I want to have a good camp, take a couple of months in between, and make sure I have a good weight cut and go into my next fight against a ranked opponent at 100 percent,” Robertson said.