Everything You Need to Know About Thiago Santos and His wife, Yana Kunitskaya

Thiago Santos is considered as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. The powerful fighter is widely regarded as one of the best light heavyweight fighters in the octagon. A professional competitor since 2010, he gained entrance into the UFC by competing on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2. He currently stands at #2 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings.

Santos is known for his unique style of fighting and has accelerated up the ladder in a very short span of time. The Brazilian has made it all in his UFC career, and this would not have been possible without the constant support he gets from his partner, Yana Kunitskaya. With all the backing from Kunitskaya, Santos has made his name among the best fighters of his division. 

Who is Yana Kunitskaya?

Santos’ wife, Yana Kunitskaya, is also a UFC fighter who competes in the bantamweight division of the competition. Kunitskaya was born in the city of Murmansk, Murmansk Oblast, in northwestern Russia. She began training as a mixed martial artist when she was 16 years old. The ‘Foxy’ holds a terrific record of 13 wins and 5 losses in her career.

The fighter is known for her comebacks and has fought fighters like Cris Cyborg, Lina Lansberg, and Aspen Ladd. The Russian mixed martial artist currently holds the number 7 position in women’s bantamweight rankings. The bantamweight fighter holds numerous records to her name. She is a former Invicta FC Bantamweight champion, and is the 2007 Russian Taekwondo and 2011 Russian Muay Thai Champion.

The ‘Foxy’ is a powerhouse of talent and skills which will aid her to become the best in her game. This is what she said before her fight with Cyborg:- “I am excited for this event; it has been getting crazier over time. I have been enjoying my fight week. I’m just confident. I’ve been doing this for a very long time I treat every fight just the same. I am excited that I get the chance to fight a fighter as respected as Cyborg.

“I like being the underdog. There is no pressure on me, this way. In a lot of my fights, I have been viewed as the underdog and I have finished all those fights very fast so I enjoy being the underdog.” She is all set to fight Ketlen Vieira on February 20, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 185.

Read More: New Striking Record Created by Yana Kunitskaya in Women’s UFC Bantamweight History

Thiago Santos and Yana Kunitskaya – A power couple

Santos and Kunitskaya are no less than a power couple in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Both of them were dating since 2019 until the last year-end when they announced their engagement. They both are often seen training together. Also, the couple helps each other with a great amount of support and motivation before any of their bouts.

Santos and Kunitskaya will be the second married UFC couple to date after Mark and Montana De La Rosa tied the knot at the beginning of 2020.

There is no doubt that with the support of each other the power couple is going to reach heights and the entire UFC fraternity will see them creating many more records.

This is what Kunitskaya said in one of his interviews on how the couple supports each other:-“Plus is more because we’re both in the same routine. We both need to eat you know healthy focusing fights and camp. Some minuses that we can’t uh like support each other like in some moments because we need focus in our fights but we do our best. 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.”