Luana Santos

Luana Santos, born Luana do Valle Lopes Gonzalez Santos, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the women's bantamweight division of the UFC.

Santos was born and raised in São Paulo, where she began training in judo at age eight after her father enrolled her in a local dojo. She spent the next decade climbing Brazil's junior judo ranks, eventually competing internationally for the national team, including on the European circuit. Her move into MMA came almost by accident: after mentioning during a UFC watch party that she wanted to fight like Ronda Rousey, she was introduced to Helios Nogues Moyano, owner of São Paulo's 011 MMA Team, and never left the gym. She turned professional soon after, fighting on Brazil's regional scene and in the LFA before earning a UFC contract.

A judo black belt, Santos represented Brazil on the international junior judo stage, medaling in continental competition before shifting her focus fully to fighting professionally.

Inside the cage, Santos leans on that judo foundation, using trips, throws, and scrambles to put opponents on the canvas and hunt for finishes once she gets there. Her signature sequence, trapping an arm from a kesa-gatame scarf hold and cranking an ude-garami keylock, has produced some of her cleanest finishes, and she pairs that grappling with functional, confident striking that keeps opponents honest on the feet.

Since joining the UFC, Santos has produced some of the bantamweight division's more technical finishes, submitting Mariya Agapova with a rear-naked choke and locking up Tainara Lisboa with the same keylock that defined her judo background. She has also out-pointed opponents such as Melissa Croden on the scorecards, and answered a decision loss to Casey O'Neill by returning to the form that made her a threat in the first place.

What defines Santos is the fluency with which she has carried an Olympic grappling discipline into mixed martial arts. Equal parts technician and finisher, she represents a wave of judo-built grapplers reshaping the women's bantamweight division, backing polished throws and tight submissions with a striking game that continues to round out her overall threat.