UFC Vegas 78: Who is Luana Santos?
UFC is back at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada with another fight night event ahead of UFC 292: Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O'Malley next weekend. The main event of the evening will be a welterweight bout between Vicente Luque and Rafael dos Anjos, and that is scheduled to be preceded by 12 other bouts.
UFC Vegas 78 will kick off the show with a women's flyweight showcase as Juliana Miller welcomes the UFC's latest import: Luana Santos. Fighting out of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Santos finds herself joining the illustrious ranks of Brazilian fighters to have stepped into the fabled octagon on Saturday night.
At just 23 years of age and having a professional career that just celebrated two years, Santos has built herself up in the global women's flyweight rankings to get a multi-fight contract from the UFC. Her professional debut came in July 2021 and, since then, Santos has accumulated a record of six fights, showing her consistency and determination to be amongst the best.
On the amateur circuit, Santos had a perfect 3-win and 0-loss record. In her professional debut, Santos cinched in a Kesa Gatame Leg Americana submission in the first round to get the victory and instantly make herself a must-see talent. Santos was unsuccessful in her LFA debut, losing via split decision - her only loss in her career up until this day - but she has managed to bounce back from that.
Santos' last fight was at LFA 154 in March 2023 when she got a first-round technical guillotine choke submission. In June, Santos found herself amongst the new UFC signees and, at UFC Vegas 78 on Saturday night, she will make her first trip into the octagon.
Luana Santos fitting right in with the women's flyweight division
At UFC Vegas 78, Santos makes her promotional debut for the UFC and there is no doubt that she will be looking to make a statement upon arrival. Currently on a 2-fight winning streak, Santos is riding a wave of momentum that she looks to continue on the biggest stage of them all.
Her opponent, Juliana Miller, has found her footing within the promotion but is coming off of a recent unanimous decision loss. These two women will go to war in the UFC Vegas 78 prelim card opener, and look to set the pace for the rest of the card.
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