Viviane Pereira hasn’t been able to compete since 2019.

It wasn’t the Dragon Kombat representative’s plan to take a hiatus as she became pregnant with her coach Marcos Batista’s child. As a result, that led to her being kicked out of the gym.

“I didn’t expect this pregnancy,” Pereira told MMA Fighting. “When I told [Batista] I was pregnant, he said right off the bat he didn’t want it and blocked us from everything, kicked me out of the team. He’s still avoiding judicial intimations, not showing up in court. It’s quite complicated. He never helped me or the baby.

“I thought [motherhood] would go differently because I was with the father of the baby since I was 15. I began training with him when I was around 12, and we started dating when I was 15, and everything was fine, but then all of a sudden he changed completely. We spent almost 12 years together.”

Viviane Pereira (14-3) is currently holding a crowdfunding campaign to help keep her afloat financially before resuming her MMA career. As a single mother, “Succuri” wound up losing sponsors and now finds income through a governmental relief program where she receives below $40 a month.

The 27-year old Brazilian is still under contract with Invicta FC where she’s fought as a 105-pound atomweight. Her last time out saw her pick up a unanimous decision win over the now-champion, Alesha Zappitella.

Before joining Invicta, Pereira enjoyed a brief 2-2 run with the UFC at 115-pounds that saw her exit the promotion off of back-to-back losses to Tatiana Suarez and Yan Xiaonan. The current plan at this stage is to hopefully be cleared to compete by 2022 as she’s been recovering from a June shoulder surgery – whether in or out of Invicta.