Yana Santos

Yana Santos (  Kunitskaya;  born November 11, 1989) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist competing in the bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of April 16, 2024, she is #12 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.

Biography
Yana Santos was born in 1989, in the city of Murmansk, Murmansk Oblast, in northwestern Russia. Her mother, Olga Kunitskaya, was a professional gymnast and her father, Joseph, was a professional skier. She has a younger sister, Victoria. Yana became involved in martial arts early in her childhood, starting with taekwondo at preschool age, and won numerous tournaments among both girls and boys, with many fights ending in knockouts. At 12 years old, she began competing in hand-to-hand combat (рукопашный бой), participating in a large number of fights without suffering a defeat. When she was 16 years old, Santos went to live and study in St. Petersburg, and entered the SPGUFK team at Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health, Department of Boxing. At age 18, she started practicing mixed martial arts (MMA).

On August 9, 2012, Santos announced that she was pregnant with her first child. In August 2013, she announced the end of her sports career and her transition to coaching, but she came out of retirement three years later. She then signed a contract with the Invicta Fighting Championships (IFC or Invicta FC) in which only females compete.

Early career
Santos made her professional mixed-martial-arts debut on May 23, 2009, at a K-1 World Grand Prix event in Poland. She defeated Magdalena Jarecka by technical knockout (TKO) in the first round. After winning two of her next three fights, Santos faced unbeaten prospect Cindy Dandois at M-1 Challenge XXII on December 10, 2010. She defeated Dandois by TKO in 34 seconds. On November 19, 2011, Santos faced Arune Lauzeckaite at Bushido Hero's: World Grand Prix Lithuania, winning by TKO in the first round.

In 2012, Santos faced Ekaterina Saraykina at Verdict Fighting Championship 1 on February 11, defeating Saraykina by TKO in the first round. In March, she faced Anna Melikhova at Lion's Fights 1 and won by unanimous decision after two rounds. She then defeated Sylwia Kusiak by TKO in round one at Baltic Arena in Koszalin, Poland, in June. Santos was scheduled to face Danielle West at Starlight Events: Gladiator World Cup 2012 on July 6 in Marbella, Spain, but the event was cancelled.

Santos had fought almost exclusively in Russia, and built her record to 9 wins and 2 losses before signing to Invicta FC.

Invicta Fighting Championships
Yana defeated Tonya Evinger for the Invicta FC Bantamweight title on November 18, 2016. On December 1, the win was overturned to a no contest, so Evinger retained her title. Santos faced Evinger in a rematch in the main event of Invicta FC 22 on March 25, 2017, and lost by submission in the second round.

Santos defeated Raquel Pa'aluhi at Invicta FC 25 on August 31, 2017, to win the vacant Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Santos made her Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) promotional debut at UFC 222 on March 3, 2018, against Cris Cyborg for the featherweight title. She lost the fight by TKO in the first round.

Santos next faced Lina Länsberg on October 6, 2018, at UFC 229. She won the fight via unanimous decision

Santos then faced Marion Reneau on March 9, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 146. She won the fight by unanimous decision.

Santos faced Aspen Ladd on December 7, 2019, at UFC on ESPN 7. She lost the fight via technical knockout in round three.

Santos was scheduled to face Ketlen Vieira on August 1, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Aldana. and on July 15, 2020, it was announced that the bout was moved to UFC Fight Night 174 on August 8, 2020. Subsequently, Vieira was removed from the card on July 30 for undisclosed reasons and replaced by Julija Stoliarenko. She won the fight via unanimous decision.

The bout with Ketlen Vieira was rescheduled and eventually took place on February 20, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 185. At the weigh-ins, Vieira weighed in at 138 pounds, two pounds over the women's bantamweight non-title fight limit. She was fined 20% of her purse which went to Santos and the bout proceeded at catchweight. Santos won the fight via unanimous decision.

Santos faced Irene Aldana on July 10, 2021, at UFC 264. At the weigh-ins, Aldana weighed in at 139.5 pounds, three and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. Her bout proceeded at catchweight and Aldana was fined 30% of her purse, which went to Santos. Santos lost the fight via technical knockout in round one.

Santos faced former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm on March 25, 2023, at UFC on ESPN 43. She lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Santos was scheduled to face The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters women's featherweight winner Macy Chiasson on July 1, 2023, at UFC on ESPN 48 However, Chiasson pulled out two weeks after the fight announcement and was replaced by Karol Rosa in a featherweight bout. Santos lost the fight via split decision.

Santos was scheduled to face Norma Dumont on January 13, 2024, at UFC Fight Night 234. However, Santos pulled out due to a broken nose.

Santos is scheduled to face Chelsea Chandler on August 10, 2024 at UFC Fight Night 242.

Personal life
Santos is married to former UFC and current Professional Fighters League (PFL) fighter Thiago Santos. She has a son from a previous relationship. The pair got engaged in December 2020. Santos announced on August 16, 2021, that the couple was expecting their first child together, leading to some fans speculating that Santos was pregnant during her fight against Irene Aldana, which had taken place just a month before, though Santos denied these claims, and female fighters in Nevada, where the fight took place, are administered pregnancy tests prior to each fight as part of the standard medical screening.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Invicta Fighting Championships
 * Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion (One time)
 * Performance of the Night (twice) vs. Tonya Evinger and Raquel Pa'aluhi
 * Other
 * 2007 UKADO World Champion
 * 2007 Russian Taekwondo Champion
 * 2010 Bushido Women's MMA Champion
 * 2011 Russian Muay Thai Champion