Luana Santos opens up about why she left ballet and how she followed Ronda Rousey to MMA

UFC has been one of the most famous sports which has now being watched and idolized all over the world. Not only the sport but the fighters in the UFC are now being acknowledged and are also been admired by many all across the globe. One such instance of fanboyism came to light when a Brazilian fighter Luana Santos made her debut in the UFC.

Santos made her debut on Saturday against The Ultimate Fighter 30 winner Juliana Miller. The father of Santos wanted his two children to participate in judo competitions. But his wife objected to the idea of seeing their little daughter playing with a girl. She encouraged 8-year-old Luana to practice something more "girly" in its place.

“He took my brother and me to a judo class and my mother didn’t want that, she wanted me to do ballet,” Santos said in an interview with MMA Fighting. "But I was never girly, playing with dolls and stuff like that, and I loved judo,” Santos said.

I never dreamed about going to MMA: Luana Santos

The 23-year-old began practising judo at the age of 8, and by the time she was 18, she had earned a black belt. She had also won a gold medal at the IJF Cadets World Tour in Turkey and finished on the podium in competitions held in Germany and Brazil. Santos was a member of the Brazilian national judo team at the time, and she began to view MMA differently at that point.

“I never dreamed about going to MMA,” she said. “I say that me going to MMA was written , it had to happen because I went to MMA by chance. I was watching a UFC event at a friend’s house and her father was there with a friend. I was always a fan of Ronda because she’s a judoka, for her story, for seeing her in movies. I was inspired by her.

“I was watching the UFC and joked that I would do that one day, and her father’s friend asked if it was for real. I said I’d do it, but never imagined it would go beyond that,” She added.

Santos began her amateur MMA career in 2019, many years after Rousey's last UFC fight, but she continued to draw inspiration from "Rowdy". Santos' entry into the UFC was facilitated by three victories in amateur competition and a professional record of 5-1. Santos stated, "I don't feel much pressure in the UFC because I'm travelling and fighting since I was a kid, so my head is used to this.