Want to know what’s happening with the rest of the UFC women’s featherweight division? Roughly half of it is going to face off at a Fight Night event on January 13, 2024 — at 135 pounds.
The bout will see Norma Dumont (10-2), arguably the most successful featherweight in the company left past Amanda Nunes’ retirement this past June, take on Yana Santos (14-8, 1NC). Santos competed for the UFC women’s featherweight title in 2018, and returned to the division for her most recent bout.
News of the booking was first reported by MMA Fighting on Wednesday. Dumont subsequently confirmed the match-up on social media.
Dumont is currently ranked #11 in the women’s bantamweight division, and Santos #8, despite both having most recently competed at featherweight.
Brazil’s Dumont, in fact, has never successfully made the bantamweight limit while fighting in the UFC. A November 2020 fight with Ashlee Evans-Smith scheduled for the weight class saw her weigh in at 139.5lbs, a full three and a half pounds over the non-title bantamweight limit.
As a featherweight, Dumont has won her past three fights, all via unanimous decision, against Danyelle Wolf, Karol Rosa, and Chelsea Chandler.
Santos is on the opposite trajectory currently, having lost her last three bouts, including a loss to Rosa most recently. In 2018, she made an unsuccessful challenge against Cris Cyborg, then UFC women’s featherweight champion, after which she immediately dropped back down to bantamweight.
Santos is a former Invicta FC bantamweight champion.
The only other match-up reported for the UFC’s Jan. 13, 2024 event, which does not have a venue, location, or broadcast plan announced, is a heavyweight affair that sees Andrei Arlovski take on Waldo Cortes-Acosta.
