Bantamweights Tainara Lisboa and Luana Santos were the third women’s fight at UFC Vegas 106, with all arriving early on Saturday’s preliminary card at the UFC Apex.
Not only did both ladies hail from Brazil, but both were fighting out of Sao Paulo; Santos entered off a loss to Casey O’Neill, while Lisboa had won her first two UFC fights. She had been out of action since 2023 however, thanks in part due to knee cartilage reconstruction surgery.
Santos, meanwhile, was moving up in weight after competing at 125lbs. And early on, the weight change didn’t seem to impact her, as she exploded into a takedown and landed it about 90 seconds into the opening round. While Lisboa was active off her back initially, Santos was able to prevent her from reversing, and stayed heavy in half-guard. Lisboa would get up in the final minute, but could not free herself fully and wound up down again, on her back, nearly upside down and trying to latch onto one of Santos’ legs.
After a strong opening round by Santos, Lisboa came out firing in round two. She got her hands going, mixing in kicks as well, putting Santos on her heels. Santos circled on the outside and occasionally fired back, getting her leg up for a blocked high kick. Just as Lisboa looked like she might have something going, a stray kick was caught, with Santos dumping her for another key takedown. Unlike round one, Lisboa was nowhere near the fence, miles away from any form of escape save a scramble.
Santos had a headlock in place this time, a scarf hold that allowed her to pepper Lisboa with short punches, though none were a threat to finish the fight. Regardless, Tainara Lisboa was stuck, with Santos adjusting in step every time Lisboa attempted to move. Lisboa finally freed herself of the headlock with about 90 seconds remaining, only to give up the back, arguably going from bad to worse, or at least bad to more bad. Lisboa found Santos transition to mount moments later, riding Lisboa and locking in a late Americana. Time was nigh, but Lisboa tapped shortly before the horn!
The submission sees Luana Santos victorious in her move to bantamweight, and gets her back in the win column. It was announced following her win that Santos was the first female in UFC history to end a fight via Americana.
Official Result: Luana Santos def. Tainara Lisboa by submission (Americana), Round 2, 4:59
