MMA fighter helps woman during Downtown Memphis robbery

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - A robber punched a woman who tried to stop him when he attacked another woman in Downtown Memphis.

Mandy Polk is a professional mixed martial arts fighter. She took one on the chin near Second Street in Memphis on Saturday morning.

Polk heard a woman scream and rushed to her aid.

"When the women yelled, 'Help me, help me! Somebody help me!' That's when I knew I had to go, and the police were already on the phone," Polk said.

Polk grabbed the robbery suspect by the waist. She thought about using her fighting skills to teach him a lesson, but decided to instead hold the robber until police arrived.

"Due to my training, I feel like I could be overly prosecuted for any kind of danger I inflict on someone else, especially due to a misunderstanding. What if that's her boyfriend and they're fine?" Polk explained.

Other bystanders saw what was happening and tried to help, but during the chaos, the robber got free from Polk's grip. That's when he took a swing and landed a punch on Polk.

"If I wasn't trained, it would have been awful. It could have been very, very bad for me if I didn't know how to move and work myself out of the way," Polk said.

The robber then ran off, but he left something that may help police track him down. Polk found his cell phone; she turned it over to police.

"I would love for this individual to be brought to justice and jailed. I feel like that's appropriate," Polk said. "What can we all do as a society? I would encourage to learn self defense principles. That way they can recognize a true conflict or not."

So far no arrests have been made.

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