Giva Santana

Givanildo Santana do Nascimento (born November 20th, 1971) is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, who last fought in Bellator's Middleweight division. Santana also competed in the promotions ShoXC and M-1 Global. He is a decorated jiu-jitsu competitor, both gi and no-gi, and has won numerous titles including the Pan American Championship and the No-Gi World Championship.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Giva Santana has been training Brazilian jiu-jitsu for 25 years and is a fourth degree black belt under Lotus Club from São Paulo, Brazil. Santana has conquered numerous prestigious titles in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu including the Pan American Championship, World No Gi Championship, Masters World Championship, and the World Cup Championship (among others). He was awarded his black belt from Master Moises Muradi on January 23, 1999.

Team Oyama / One Jiu-Jitsu
Santana was the head jiu jitsu trainer for Team Oyama where he has trained Rob Emerson, Jared Rollins, Bao Quach, and Ian McCall. He now runs his own jiu jitsu academy, One Jiu Jitsu and Fitness, located in Tustin, CA.

Mixed martial arts career
Santana received the nickname "Arm Collector" because 13 out of his 18 wins are by armbar (10 of them wins in a row). He has participated in ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series.

Tachi Palace Fights
Santana was scheduled to face Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran David Loiseau at Tachi Palace Fights 10 for the Tachi Palace Fights Middleweight Championship. Loiseau pulled out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury requiring surgery, so Santana instead faced former WEC champion Doug Marshall in a middleweight non-title bout which he won by submission in the first round.

Bellator MMA
In 2011 Santana has signed with Bellator Fighting Championships. In his debut, Santana fought Darryl Cobb at Bellator 53 and won via submission in the first round.

Santana faced Bruno Santos in the quarterfinal match of Bellator season six middleweight tournament on March 16, 2012 at Bellator 61. He lost via unanimous decision.

Santana faced Brendan Sequin on November 30, 2012 at Bellator 82. Santana won via submission in the second round.

Santana faced Jason Butcher on September 7, 2013 at Bellator 98 in the quarterfinal match of Bellator Season Nine Middleweight Tournament. After dominating the first round, he was stopped for the first time in his career by TKO in the second round. Following the loss, Santana announced his retirement from MMA.