Luana Santos expects Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes to retire from the sport after they eventually meet for the UFC bantamweight title in the future, but she’s not afraid that it could mean the end of the entire weight class.
The UFC shut down the featherweight division after Nunes retired as a two-division queen in 2023, but kept the bantamweight open. When Harrison left PFL and ultimately won the belt, Nunes decided to un-retire to challenge her. Since then, the UFC has opted not to offer top-5
veteran Ketlen Vieira a new contract after her most recent win and passed on signing two-time PFL champion Larissa Pacheco to the division, moves that had people fearing for the future of the division.
“No, it doesn’t worry me,” Santos told MMA Fighting when asked of the danger of UFC shutting down the entire division. “I’ve seen a lot of people talking about it because of the lack of signings and because Ketlen was released, but I’m not concerned. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, the division is going to disappear.’ I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think 135 is a quieter division and doesn’t have as many fights, but that’s changing. We’re seeing a lot more fights at 135, and a lot of new people are coming in.”
“I see it as an opportunity,” she continued. “I have a good relationship with the UFC; they like me, and I have a good connection with the fans. I’m not someone who gets a lot of hate. For some reason, people identify with me and like me. If you look at my Instagram, I have more followers than some girls who have been in the UFC for 10 years. I think people saw something in me that caught their attention. I think the UFC sees that too. I see it as an opportunity. I already have three finishes in the UFC, so if I get one or two more, that puts me even closer to a title shot. People already identify with me. So I see it as a good thing. If nobody’s there, I’m coming [laughs].”
Santos admits, however, that the promotion is struggling to find marketable contenders to make draw good numbers and attention in the 135-pound class. Santos is approaching 270,000 followers on Instagram going into her upcoming fight with Karol Rosa at UFC Vegas 119, which goes down Saturday at the Meta APEX, and doesn’t see other women with big drawing potential.
“Our division doesn’t really have a name coming up that makes people stop and say, ‘Wow, she’s the next big thing’ — other than Amanda, who wants to come back, and Kayla, who’s in her prime,” Santos said. “There’s no one we look at and say, ‘Damn, this girl is coming up, making noise, and she’s marketable.’ There just isn’t. There’s nobody that people are saying, ‘My God, she has to get the title shot, she’s next.’ Our division is pretty quiet. We don’t talk much. There’s Norma [Dumont], who talks a lot and all that, but she just lost, so I think she’ll have to take a couple of steps back. There isn’t that standout girl right now.”
“Kayla herself has already said something along the lines of, ‘If they don’t open 145 again, I’m retiring.’ I don’t think the UFC is going to reopen the 145-pound division. If 135 already doesn’t have that many women making noise, why would they open another division just to have it be quiet too? Featherweight has never been a division with a lot of activity. You’d see fights there once in a blue moon. So yes, if they fight each other, whether they win or lose, I think both retire. Kayla can’t keep making 135 forever — I don’t even know how she still does it today, she’s huge. And that opens the door for the people coming up. Whoever is making noise, selling fights, and winning will move ahead of everyone else in line for the title, no doubt about it.”
Argentina’s Ailin Perez is very loud in interviews and social media, bringing a type of provocative behavior that could draw headlines and typically works well for MMA fighters in the modern era. That said, Santos said UFC and fans can’t expect the same from her “because it’s just not who I am.”
“Those things have to come naturally,” Santos said. “People try to force themselves to talk trash and create drama, but if it isn’t natural, it comes across as fake, and it won’t be marketable. Anything forced doesn’t work. I’m not going to create a character, and I think that’s one reason people identify with me so much. Insulting people, provoking them, making wild promises, that’s not me. If the UFC sees me as marketable, it’ll be because of who I really am, not because I’m trying to provoke or trash-talk someone.”
Santos is on a two-fight winning streak going into her June 20 fight, beating Tainara Lisboa and Melissa Croden since moving up from flyweight, and sees the title picture wide open after Harrison vs. Nunes for whoever gets a big victory “because we don’t have anyone in the division who really makes noise, talks, and is marketable.”
Santos moved back to Brazil after spending three years in the United States, a move that helped her sign with the UFC and enter the octagon six times in a span of 28 months. Victorious in five of those bouts, Santos decided to build a team around her in Brazil and live “much happier” in São Paulo without having to sacrifice her training.
Rosa has never been finished in 12 UFC bouts, and Santos is aiming to be the first. Santos still hopes to fight one more time in 2026 after “a career-changing win” over Rosa this weekend, , but won’t overlook her fellow Brazilian.
“Karol is a very tough fighter,” Santos said. “We can’t put blinders on and say, ‘You have everything it takes to beat her, it’s going to be easy.’ She’s extremely experienced. She has 12 UFC fights, which is the same number of professional fights I have in total. That tells you how experienced she is.”
