Rivalries: Yana Santos

Still parked well inside the Top 10, Yana Santos could use some more consistency within the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight division.

The 33-year-old American Top Team export will collide with former champion Holly Holm in the UFC on ESPN 43 co-main event this Saturday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Santos owns a respectable 4-3 record inside the Octagon, though she has yet two string together more than two victories in succession since she joined the promotion five years ago. She last competed on July 10, when she succumbed to punches from Irene Aldana in the first round of their UFC 264 confrontation.

As Santos approaches her forthcoming battle with Holm at 135 pounds, a look at some of the rivalries that have played a part in charting her course:

Tonya Evinger

Evinger retained the undisputed Invicta Fighting Championships bantamweight title when she dismissed Santos with a rear-naked choke in the Ivicta 22 headliner on March 25, 2017 at the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, Missouri. Santos—who saw a previous victory over “Triple Threat” changed to a no contest due to referee error—bowed out of their rematch 4:32 into Round 2. The challenger dragged Evinger through plenty of difficulty. The action spilled onto the canvas after a standing guillotine from Santos in the first round. She then ran Evinger through a maze of attempted triangle chokes, armbars, heel hooks and kneebars. None of them were successful. In the second round, Evinger dodged another bid for a guillotine, assumed top position and ultimately maneuvered to the back. From there, she cinched the choke on Santos and prompted the tapout.

Raquel Canuto

Santos took hold of the vacant Invicta Fighting Championships bantamweight crown when she laid claim to a five-round unanimous decision over Canuto in the Invicta 25 main event on Aug. 31, 2017 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California. All three judges scored it 50-45. Santos bloodied the Hawaiian’s nose with a well-timed and perfectly placed upkick in the first round, then outstruck and outmaneuvered her across a majority of the final 20 minutes. She countered takedowns by drawing Canuto into the clinch and battering her with knees to the body and legs. “Lionheart” managed a takedown late in Round 4 but failed to consolidate those efforts with positional advances, meaningful control or ground-and-pound, allowing Santos to cruise to the finish line and become the third undisputed bantamweight champion—she followed Lauren Murphy and the aforementioned Evinger—in company history.

Cristiane Justino

“Cyborg” overcame some mild adversity to retain the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s featherweight title when she buried Santos with punches in the first round of their UFC 222 headliner on March 3, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The latest in a long line of Justino victims, Santos conceded defeat 3:25 into Round 1. To her credit, the challenger did not hold back. She executed a low single-leg takedown against Justino early on, employed a dogged clinch and nearly advanced to the Brazilian’s back. However, Justino’s ferocious punching power proved to be far too big of an obstacle. “Cyborg” had Santos ducking for cover with more than one overhand right and finally drove her to the mat with a straight right hand down the middle. Standing-to-ground punches followed, forcing referee Herb Dean to act.

Aspen Ladd

Ladd rebounded from her first professional defeat—a 16-second drubbing at the hands of Germaine de Randamie five months prior—and did so in resounding fashion, as she put away Santos with punches in the third round of their UFC on ESPN 7 women’s featherweight showcase on Dec. 7, 2019 at Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C. The end came 33 seconds into Round 3. Santos found success with knees from the clinch and occasional leg kicks, but she lacked the weaponry necessary to give her hyper-aggressive opponent real pause. Ladd leveled her with a left hook at the start of the third round, followed up with punches and advanced to the back. From there, a volley of unanswered shots to the side of the head prompted referee Keith Peterson to call for the stoppage.

Ketlen Vieira

A strong second round and violent surge at the end of the third propelled American Top Team’s Santos to a unanimous decision over Vieira in their UFC Fight Night 185 co-main event on Feb. 20, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored 29-28. Vieira—who missed weight for the match—controlled much of the first and third periods with superior topside grappling. However, she all but gave away the middle stanza, where she was far too content to work from her back once Santos powered into top position. Still, Vieira appeared to be ticketed for a decision as time ticked away in Round 3, as she climbed to full mount, advanced to the back and threatened with a rear-naked choke. Santos sprang a late reversal, shifted to a position of dominance and cut loose with elbows, one of which opened a significant gash near the Nova Uniao rep’s right eyebrow. Those efforts seemed to do enough to curry necessary favor with the judges.