Tag: Taila Santos

Taila Santos Reveals Game Plan To Exploit Valentina Shevchenko’s “Weaknesses On The Ground”

Taila Santos, Valentina ShevchenkoTaila Santos had no problem revealing her game plan for her upcoming title fight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 275. Current UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is on an eight-fight win streak that saw her dominate the division. ‘Bullet’ will be going into her next title defense against Santos after defeating both Lauren Murphy […]

Taila Santos, Valentina Shevchenko

Taila Santos had no problem revealing her game plan for her upcoming title fight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 275.

Current UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is on an eight-fight win streak that saw her dominate the division. ‘Bullet’ will be going into her next title defense against Santos after defeating both Lauren Murphy and Jessica Andrade by TKO in her last two outings.

Taila Santos reveals key to win

In a recent appearance on the Combate podcast, Taila Santos shared her strategy for achieving a stunning upset over Shevchenko. Taila is respectful of her adversary’s grappling but believes there’s one weakness in Valentina’s game that she could exploit.

“I believe I’m taking this fight to the ground.” Santos said. “Valentina is a very tough fighter. Her strong suit is in the striking game, but I believe I can be successful on the ground.”

“She’s very tough on the feet.” Taila continued, “She has defeated some really tough fighters. She’s also really smart, but I believe I’ll find success on the ground. That’s where I feel super comfortable. I come from a muay thai school, so I also feel great on the feet. However, I see her weaknesses on the ground, so I believe that’s the area where I’ll find success in the fight.” (h/t Bloody Elbow)

Santos goes into the bout on a four-fight winning streak, having dispatched Molly McCann, Gillian Robertson, Roxanne Modafferi, and Joane Wood in her latest outings. With 19 wins in 20 matches, the only blemish on the 28-year-old’s record is her contest against Mara Romero Borella which she lost by split decision in February 2019.

Valentina Shevchenko will defend her title against Taila Santos in the co-main event of UFC 275 on June 11 in Singapore. The women’s flyweight bout will be followed by the headlining light heavyweight title fight between reigning champ Glover Teixeira and challenger Jiri Prochazka.

Casey O’Neill: Taila Santos Can Finish Valentina Shevchenko

UFC flyweight Casey O’Neill believes Taila Santos has what it takes to dethrone Valentina Shevchenko. UFC 275’s co-main event is set to host the flyweight title bout which sees Santos take on Shevchenko in her attempt to become the division’s latest champion. Many have doubted what the Brazilian will be able to provide which past…

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UFC flyweight Casey O’Neill believes Taila Santos has what it takes to dethrone Valentina Shevchenko.

UFC 275’s co-main event is set to host the flyweight title bout which sees Santos take on Shevchenko in her attempt to become the division’s latest champion.

Many have doubted what the Brazilian will be able to provide which past title challengers haven’t in her attempt to defeat Shevchenko. Santos will enter the title fight as a large underdog amongst the bookies.

However, O’Neill certainly feels Santos has more than a puncher’s chance against the flyweight queen. However, O’Neill certainly feels Santos has more than a puncher’s chance against the flyweight queen. She even went as far as to say that she thinks the #4 ranked flyweight can finish Shevchenko. In an interview with The Schmo, she even went as far as to say that she thinks the #4-ranked flyweight can finish Shevchenko.

“Yeah, Valentina is an amazing fighter and she’s always looked unbeatable, per see,” said O’Neill. “But it’s gonna take that one person to beat her, and I think if Taila can get her game going forward, hit her with some big power shots, and maybe even get her back or something, she can finish the fight, same way she did with Joanna Calderwood.”

When asked whether she would personally like to be the one to end the dominant reign the UFC flyweight division has endured under Shevchenko, O’Neill replied:

“Yeah, I’m hoping that Taila actually doesn’t win this fight so that I can be the first one. For sure, that would be an amazing feat. But I’ve gotta just go as fast as I can go, and if Valentina keeps fighting at the same time as me, maybe someone will take her off first. There’s a lot of good talent in the 125 division coming up.”

As for O’Neill, her charge towards the title will continue soon with her next fight scheduled for UFC 276 against Jessica Eye. A win over the experienced flyweight may well see the Australian prospect break into the top ten of the division.

Can you see Taila Santos pulling off an upset against Valentina Shevchenko?

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Valentina Shevchenko Rumored To Defend Her Flyweight Title at UFC 275 Against Taila Santos

Valentina ShevchenkoFlyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko looks to be putting up her gold on the line once again at UFC 275 on June 11. Shevchenko will be facing off against the fifth ranked fighter in the division, Taila Santos. The title fight will most likely be the Co-Main Event to the light heavyweight championship fight between Glover […]

Valentina Shevchenko

Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko looks to be putting up her gold on the line once again at UFC 275 on June 11.

Shevchenko will be facing off against the fifth ranked fighter in the division, Taila Santos. The title fight will most likely be the Co-Main Event to the light heavyweight championship fight between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka. According to MMAFighting, the contracts have yet to be signed, although it is booked for the event. The UFC is still looking for a venue for the event, but it is rumored to be in Singapore.

Valentina Shevchenko has held the flyweight belt since 2018 when she defeated Joanna J?drzejczyk at UFC 231

Shevchenko has successfully defended her flyweight title six straight times, with her most recent victory coming over “Lucky” Lauren Murphy. Shevchenko defeated Murphy via TKO in the fourth round of the fight this past September at UFC 266. Shevchenko has only lost two times in the UFC, both at bantamweight against Amanda Nunes.

Santos is a respectable 19-1 as a pro fighter inside the octagon. Her only professional loss came to Mara Romero Borella in a split decision fight in her first UFC bout. Since that loss Santos has won four straight fights over the likes of, Molly McCann, Gillian Robertson, Roxanne Modafferi, and Joanne Wood. Each win coming via unanimous decision with the exception of her win over Wood, which she won via Rear-Naked Choke.

Nunes who was known as the GOAT of her division, was recently dethroned by Julianna Pena who was a big favorite. Could MMA fans possibly see two living legends and the most dominant women fighters of al time go down in the span of a few months apart?

Do you think Shevchenko’s reign of terror will continue in the flyweight division?

Valentina Shevchenko Vs. Taila Santos In The Works For UFC 275

UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko will make her next title defense against Taila Santos at UFC 275 on June 11. The news of the booking was first reported by MMA Fighting. Shevchenko is coming off another dominant win over Lauren Murphy at UFC 266. She has won eight straight fights and earned six straight successful…

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UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko will make her next title defense against Taila Santos at UFC 275 on June 11.

The news of the booking was first reported by MMA Fighting.

Shevchenko is coming off another dominant win over Lauren Murphy at UFC 266. She has won eight straight fights and earned six straight successful title defenses.

Shevchenko earned the title by defeating Joanna J?drzejczyk for the vacant title at UFC 231. She earned a unanimous decision victory and followed it up with wins over Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, and Katlyn Chookagian.

One of Shevchenko’s few tests as the flyweight champion came against Jennifer Maia at UFC 255. It was a back-and-forth battle with Shevchenko winning the fight based on activity.

It was also announced today that Maia is scheduled to face Manon Fiorot at a UFC Fight Night event on March 26 on the promotion’s Columbus, OH card.

TAILA SANTOS SET FOR UFC RETURN - MTK Global
Taila Santos

Santos will look to provide the toughest test of Shevchenko’s flyweight reign. A winner of four-straight bouts, she most recently earned a nasty first-round submission victory over Joanne Wood last November.

Santos has also earned lopsided victories over the likes of Molly McCann and Gillian Robertson.

Shevchenko had previously been interested in a trilogy bout with Amanda Nunes before Nunes lost in shocking fashion to Julianna Pena at UFC 269. Nunes will face Peña in a bantamweight title rematch later this year after coaching The Ultimate Fighter together.

UFC 275 is scheduled to be headlined by a UFC light heavyweight title bout between Glover Teixeira and Ji?í Procházk.

Shevchenko has a win over the current bantamweight champion Peña and could face her in a rematch down the line. But Shevchenko will have to get past another tough test at flyweight before any talk of fighting at different weight classes resumes.

Do you think Taila Santos could give Valentina Shevchenko a challenge?

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Taila Santos Drops, Submits Joanne Wood In Dominant Win – UFC Vegas 43 Highlights

Taila Santos#10 ranked UFC flyweight contender, Taila Santos made short work of the returning #5 rated, Joanne Wood on short notice on the main card of UFC Vegas 43 tonight — stopping the Scottish striker with a late opening round rear-naked choke. Santos, who now moves to 4-1 in her five-fight UFC stint which began back […]

Taila Santos

#10 ranked UFC flyweight contender, Taila Santos made short work of the returning #5 rated, Joanne Wood on short notice on the main card of UFC Vegas 43 tonight — stopping the Scottish striker with a late opening round rear-naked choke.

Santos, who now moves to 4-1 in her five-fight UFC stint which began back in February 2019 in her native Brazil, replaced original opponent of Wood, Alexa Grasso on short notice. And will likely gazump Wood into the top-5 of the division come the release of the updated rankings next week.

The 28-year-old Santa Catarina native immediately dominated the center of the Octagon with her stature and forward movement, stalking Wood with strikes on the feet, eventually dropping the latter with a barrage of punches at the fence.

Taila Santos makes light work of Joanne Woode to lodge her first UFC stoppage victory

Taking the back after attempting to soften Wood up on the ground, Santos eventually took her back during a brief scramble, establishing a pair of hooks and locking up a rear-naked choke win with just over 10 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

Below, catch the highlights from Taila Santos’ stoppage win over Joanne Wood.

Taila Santos Dominates Molly McCann – UFC Fight Island 1 Results

McCann SantosNext up on the UFC Fight Island 1 main card is a women’s flyweight contest between Molly McCann and Taila Santos. Round 1: McCann starts with a leg kick but is countered by a one two from Santos. Santos misses a head kick. Santos lands two knees to the stomach but allegedly held McCann’s hair […]

McCann Santos

Next up on the UFC Fight Island 1 main card is a women’s flyweight contest between Molly McCann and Taila Santos.

Round 1: McCann starts with a leg kick but is countered by a one two from Santos. Santos misses a head kick. Santos lands two knees to the stomach but allegedly held McCann’s hair and is given a warning from the referee. McCann lands a nice right hand. Santos responds with a stinging body kick that partially lands and follows with a leg kick. Santos lands a knee as McCann ducks for a body punch. McCann looks for the takedown but Santos defends and lands knees in a Thai clinch. McCann is now against the fence and gets taken down emphatically. McCann gets up but is being controlled by Santos who has the body lock. Santos takes her down to end the round strong.

Round 2: Santos continues her kicking game. McCann is still in this one, though. McCann catches a leg from Santos and looks for the takedown. However, Santos continues to defend well. McCann lands a nice knee but Santos replies with some of her own which seem to be more effective. Santos slips as she lands a body kick but is able to defend a takedown attempt before taking McCann down. She quickly transitions to full mount. She then transitions to a D’arce choke attempt. However, she lets go after some time but still has the body lock and lands a knee. Santos lands another takedown and goes to mount again. McCann survives.

Round 3: Santos lands a number of kicks and continues to evade big strikes from McCann. McCann is showing plenty of urgency as she knows she is losing the fight. However, she is unable to deal with the versatile kicks of Santos. Santos pressures her against the fence and looks for another takedown and lands it. Santos looks to land ground and pound but eventually stands up before going back down. She looks for another D’arce attempt but McCann seems to have defended it. Santos circles to McCann’s back. She then transitions to full amount and looks to land ground and pound. McCann survives but will likely lose the decision.

Official result: Taila Santos defeats Molly McCann via unanimous decision ().