This time around, that means focusing on sharing the Octagon with Polastri on Saturday at Farmasi Arena where the duelling strawweights will compete early in the night.

Fighting in her hometown, Polastri is looking to get back into the win column after a hard-fought loss to Loopy Godinez in Mexico City earlier this year where she won the final round on all three scorecards but ultimately came up short in her attempt to rally and secure the win.

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As Kowalkiewicz suggested, this is very much an “old guard vs next generation” pairing as Polastri is more than a dozen years her junior and has as many professional bouts as the soon-to-be 40-year-old veteran has UFC appearances.

None of that, of course, has ever dissuaded Kowalkiewicz in the past, and after an outstanding camp at American Top Team, the Polish standout is eager to make the walk, show what she’s been working on, and hopefully — finally — secure a victory in Rio de Janeiro.

“I always train very hard, but for this fight, I changed a lot of things in my training,” bega Kowalkiewicz. “I don’t like to be cocky, but I think I had one of the best fight camps in my life, so I feel good. I cannot wait for Saturday. I hope I will show what I did in these last few weeks. I cannot wait. I am ready.

“I want to prove something to myself. I am here for a third time; I can do this!”