5 Things You Might Not Know About Yana Santos

Yana Santos can ill afford another misstep.

The 33-year-old Murmansk, Russia, native will seek her first win in more than two years when she returns to the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s featherweight division to meet Karol Rosa in a UFC on ESPN 48 prelim this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Santos enters the cage on the heels of back-to-back losses. She last competed at UFC on ESPN 43, where she wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm on March 25.

As Santos focuses her attention on Rosa and their looming confrontation at 145 pounds, here are five things you might not know about her:

1. She maximized her youth.

Santos made her professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 19 when she put away Magdalena Jarecka with punches just 1:38 into their encounter under the K-1 banner on May 23, 2009. The taekwondo black belt won eight of her first nine bouts—an impressive run that saw her record a pair of sub-minute finishes. Santos cut down Cindy Dandois with punches in 34 seconds at M-1 Challenge 22 on Dec. 10, 2010 and prompted a corner stoppage against Sylwia Kusiak in 50 seconds at a Baltic Arena show on June 15, 2012.

2. Access to top-shelf instruction buoys her profile.

“Foxy” operates out of the famed American Top Team camp in Coconut Creek, Florida, where she sharpens her skills at the direction of world-class coaches and shares the gym with a host of accomplished stablemates, two-time Professional Fighters League champion Kayla Harrison among them.

3. She struck gold at the regional level.

Santos captured the vacant Invicta Fighting Championships with a five-round unanimous decision over Raquel Canuto in the Invicta 25 main event on Aug. 31, 2017. She held the title for 160 days, then vacated it to sign with the UFC the following February.

4. She balances her personal and professional life.

The former Invicta champion manages a family outside the cage. Married to former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos, she gave birth to their daughter, Alisa, in April 2022.

5. Flexibility made her a more valued commodity.

Santos has fought in three different weight classes during her 22-fight career. Though she has competed as a bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight, the Russian has enjoyed her greatest success at 135 pounds.