Luana Santos began her UFC career as a flyweight, but her future may lie in Bantamweight. At 25, she returns to the 135-pound division and will face Tainara Lisboa of UFC Vegas 106 on Saturday.
Santos was booked to fight once at the UFC bantamweight but missed the target badly and came in at nearly 140 pounds. The doctors discovered that a young Brazilian suffered from Hashimoto’s disease. This is an autoimmune condition that can lead to weight gain by affecting the thyroid gland. Santos took medication to control the illness and she went 1-1 as a flyweight, but it makes sense to return to bantamweight after struggling with her stomach problems before and after being cut due to a recent match with Casey O’Neill.
In addition, Santos considers the bantamweight class to be extremely shallow.
“It’s not easy, but it is,” Santos told MMA Fighting. “I think the 125 division is more competitive than the 135. Why do you take shortcuts if you can compete at 135? For example, Tainara was ranked after two fights in the UFC. Future flyweight?”
Santos’ decision has not yet been set on stone. Bantamweight’s future depends on her performance against Lisboa and perhaps her next fight, but the moves now make sense.
“I’m not a little girl of 135. It’s the exact opposite,” Santos said. “I fought 135 before, so I’ll try again. Let’s see how it goes. If we win this, let’s do it.
Lisboa is older than Santos and has not fought in 18 months to fight a career-threatening left knee injury. Santos doesn’t overlook her opponents, but she sees the scenario as a more advantageous for her at UFC Vegas 106.
“I think Teinara is a very tough and experienced girl,” Santos said. “She’s 10 years older than me, but when we’re talking about MMA, we have roughly the same experience. Her impression is more Muay Thai oriented and she has good jiu-jitsu, but I think she’s better than her in the area.
“I think it’s a great matchup,” she added. “She comes out of a knee injury and has had more than a year off and I don’t know what will happen to her head. I think she’s tough. I don’t think it’s going to be an easy fight, but I think it’s likely to come out with a victory.”