“God took everything from me” – UFC female fighter tragically reveals how addiction turned her into ‘prostitute’
Eduarda Neves Santana, aka Duda Cowboyzinha, is surviving on the streets after falling into a depression following a UFC doping suspension.
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Former UFC fighter Duda Cowboyzinha living off unsavory means to survive (Source: IG)
Ex-UFC fighter Duda Cowboyzinha, AKA Eduarda Neves Santana has resurfaced after quite a while on socials. However, by the looks of it, she has seen better days. Cowboyzinha reappeared this weekend in a video circulating on social media, showing her living streetside. The 26-year-old was seen eating a meal donated by an evangelical homeless outreach group.
That is quite a fall from grace for any UFC fighter. Kazakh Invicta FC standout and DWCS Alum Mariya Agapova also almost went homeless and was cut from the roster afterward. But this is a more rarer case. Tata Fight Team’s “Cowboyzinha” – i.e. Little Cowboy – made her debut in 2019, at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Smith and had a modest 3-1-0 stat. In a video from Combate.com — Rio de Janeiro, Duda Cowboyzinha admitted to resorting to prostitution to purchase drugs and live off it.
You start with a joint and you end up prostituting yourself for drugs. Now I prostitute myself for a cigarette—– God took everything away from me, like Job, but one day he will give it all back to me… Wait for my return…
Duda Cowboyzinha said in the video (H/T: Combate.com)
Cowboyzinha is living on the streets. Media outlet ‘Combate‘, which spoke to the fighter’s close friends confirmed as much. Former UFC fighter Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, who once fought the likes of Donald Cerrone, is seemingly her friend and talked about it on his socials. Oliveira is Duda’s former teammate and commented on the video.
Cowboyzinha was once rumored to fight Tracy Cortez in November of 2019. Cortez would later face Vanessa Melo and win at UFC Fight Night: Blachowicz vs. Jacare. Meanwhile, Duda’s fall from grace came in 2020. After testing positive for doping (Ligandrol), she faced suspension; the UFC let her go and she fell into depression. Her team’s claim was that the fighter used tainted supplements, but they were unable to prove her innocence.
Who is Duda Cowboyzinha?
Neves Santana, or Duda Cowboyzinha, 29, comes from the Cidade de Deus community in Rio de Janeiro. She represented the Tatá Fight Team in MMA. After winning three consecutive WOCS, she got the invite to compete in the Contender Series Brazil. However, she was unable to attend due to difficulties in obtaining a visa to enter Stateside. In 2019, she was under contract to the UFC and made her debut for the company in Sweden.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Duda reported quarantine difficulties and survived on emergency aid and kits from the government. However, in September it came to be that Cowboyzinha came in the green for the substance Ligandrol, or LGD-4033. It’s a selective androgen receptor modulator, a class of anabolic agent on the UFC’s then-banned list, before UFC’s separation from USADA.
LGD-4033 is something that Health Performance VP Jeff Novitzky or even the new UFC Anti-Doping Policy (UFC ADP) standards regime, under Drug-Free Sport International (DFSI), might find as a foul. The UFC thus cut Cowboyzinha just after one scrap. It was a second-round (1:59) submission loss to Bea Malecki in her debut; it did not help her case elsewhere. However, Duda Cowboyzinha has promised she’ll turn things around and land on her feet again. Here’s hoping that comes true.
Related: ‘High or drunk’ Conor McGregor gets offer from UFC champion to complete rehab
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