UFC’s Luana Santos breaks down historic submission in women’s MMA
UFC Fight Night 256 winner Luana Santos talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight after her second-round submission of Tainara Lisboa.
LAS SANTOS – Luana Santos is proud to achieve a moment inside the octagon that will last forever at UFC Fight Night 256.
Records are made to be broken, but for Santos (9-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), she did something that can never be repeated when she earned the first Americana submission by any female in UFC history when she finished Tainara Lisboa in the second round of their bantamweight bout this past Saturday.
“Very happy because it’s making history – I always tell people that I want to leave a little mark,” Santos told MMA Junkie through an interpreter after her win. “You know about the dances that I always put on, but to be the first Americana finish, and before this fight I said I said I. Want to have a safe fight, I want to have a cautious fight because I want to come out and get back into the win column. As it turns out, not only I did put on a show, but I ended with the first Americana submission. I’m happy.”
Santos said that her coaches encouraged her to throw strikes with the fight hit the mat, but her instincts led to locking up the submission.
“I knew when I got her in the Americana, one of her arms was caught and stuck, so she wasn’t going to be able to tap anyways,” Santos said. “I heard her say, ‘That’s it, that’s it, that’s it.’ The ref did not hear it but I kept looking at him like, ‘Dude, she said it.’ At one point I freed her up and she said it.”
After starting her UFC career 3-0 at women’s flyweight, Santos lost to Casey O’Neill at UFC 305 in August. The result prompted her to shift back to 135 pounds, where she started her career. Now she has to decide if she wants to stay there.
I have one foot in on one, and another in on the other,” Santos said. “I feel good about this. Bantamweight is what I used to fight at for a long time before coming to the UFC. I just wanted to test myself at 125 and I did it, but this felt really good, the weight cuts were really good. I felt strong. This may be my home.”
#Luana #Santos #proud #leave #mark #historic #finish
