Santos sees opportunity in UFC bantamweight uncertainty ahead of Rosa clash

Luana Santos is not losing sleep over the prospect of the UFC closing its women’s bantamweight division — she sees a thinning roster as a ladder straight to the top.

The Brazilian fighter, who takes on Karol Rosa at UFC Vegas 119 on Saturday at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, addressed growing concern about the division’s future in the lead-up to the bout. Those fears were stoked when the UFC declined to offer a new contract to top-five veteran Ketlen Vieira following her most recent win, and chose not to sign two-time PFL champion Larissa Pacheco to the 135-pound roster.

“No, it doesn’t worry me,” Santos told MMA Fighting. “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.”

The backdrop to those concerns is a looming superfight between champion Kayla Harrison and returning legend Amanda Nunes, whose retirement in 2023 prompted the UFC to shutter the women’s featherweight division entirely. Santos expects both fighters to walk away from the sport once they eventually meet, but insists bantamweight will survive them.

Rather than viewing the division’s relative quietness as a threat, Santos frames it as a personal opening. She already holds three finishes inside the Octagon and is approaching 270,000 Instagram followers — a social footprint she believes the UFC has noticed.

“I see it as an opportunity,” she said. “I have a good relationship with the UFC; they like me, and I have a good connection with the fans. 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. If nobody’s there, I’m coming.”

Santos was candid, however, about the division’s struggle to produce marketable contenders. “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,” she said. “There’s no one we look at and say, ‘Damn, this girl is coming up, making noise, and she’s marketable.’”

A win over Rosa on Saturday would be Santos’s fourth UFC victory and, by her own reckoning, a significant step toward putting her name firmly in the title conversation.