Yana Santos (née Kunitskaya; born November 11, 1989) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Santos became involved in martial arts early in her childhood, starting with Taekwondo when she was in preschool, and won numerous tournaments among both girls and boys, with many of her fights ending in knockouts.
When she was 16 years old, Santos went to live and study in St. Petersburg and entered the Lesgaft National State University Boxing team.
Santos made her professional MMA debut on May 23, 2009, at a K-1 World Grand Prix event in Poland.
After winning two of her next three fights, Santos faced unbeaten prospect Cindy Dandois at M-1 Challenge XXII on December 10, 2010.
[8] On November 19, 2011, Santos faced Arune Lauzeckaite at Bushido Hero's World Grand Prix Lithuania, winning by TKO in the first round.
[11] In March, she faced Anna Melikhova at Lion's Fights[12] and won by unanimous decision after two rounds.
[13] She then defeated Sylwia Kusiak by TKO in round one at the Baltic Arena in Koszalin, Poland, in June.
[21] Santos faced Evinger in a rematch in the main event of Invicta FC 22 on March 25, 2017, and lost by a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
[30] Santos was scheduled to face Ketlen Vieira on August 1, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs.
[32] Subsequently, Vieira was removed from the card on July 30 for undisclosed reasons and replaced by Julija Stoliarenko.
[34] The bout with Ketlen Vieira was rescheduled and eventually took place on February 20, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 185.
This led to speculation among some fans that she was pregnant during her fight against Irene Aldana, which occurred just a month earlier.