Yana Santos is set to clash with Miesha Tate this weekend at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, at UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs Figueiredo.
Many fans are curious about Santos’ personal life ahead of the fight, especially her relationship with Thiago Santos. Is he her husband? And if so, is he a fighter? Let’s find out.
Is Yana Santos Married to Thiago Santos, and Is He an MMA Fighter?
Yana Santos is Russian-born, and her full name was Yana Kunitskaya. She changed her last name after getting engaged to Brazilian-born Thiago Santos in 2020.
Yana and Thiago each have children from previous relationships, and together they welcomed their first child, Alise Santos, in April 2022. Thiago is a professional MMA fighter who has competed in both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions in the UFC. He is currently signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL).
Thiago fought for the UFC light heavyweight title against Jon Jones at UFC 239. He put on a strong performance but fell short of getting his hand raised, losing the bout via split decision. He parted ways with the promotion following a loss to Jamahal Hill in 2022.
The couple also runs a nonprofit organization for underprivileged kids, where they teach MMA to children.
Yana Santos Opens Up on Balancing Fights, Family, and Life With Thiago Santos
MMA fighters have to make sacrifices throughout their professional careers, whether it’s staying away from family and friends during fight camp or traveling to another country to train with the best fighters.
In her appearance on “MMA Fighting” on SBN, Yana emphasized that since Thiago is also a fighter, they almost follow the same routine. However, it becomes difficult to support each other since they’re often both in fight camps for their upcoming bouts.
“Plus is more because we’re both in the same routine. We both need to eat, you know, healthy, focus on fights and camp. Some minuses — that we can’t, like, support each other in some moments because we need focus on our fights. But we do our best.”
Yana also highlighted that they still manage to support each other and mentioned that they often like to travel after their fights.
“We support each other, trying to do camp as smooth as it can be. And good thing that after fights, we can, you know, rest a little, enjoy life — traveling.”
“Foxy” was on a three-fight losing streak, but that changed during her most recent fight against Chelsea Chandler in August of last year. She secured a unanimous decision victory to get back on the winning track.