Holly Holm vs. Yana Santos is the co-main event of UFC on ESPN: Vera vs. Sandhagen a.k.a. UFC on ESPN 43
The last time Holly Holm and Yana Santos, also known as Kunitskaya, fought, both of them lost. The fact that neither fighter has fought in a while suggests that they are not in their best physical condition, which is another similarity. Holm had kidney issues, and Santos gave birth relatively recently.
Holly Holm vs. Yana Santos Odds
Moneyline Odds
Holly Holm -220
Yana Santos +168
*Odds taken from Sports Odds Direct on Monday, March 20, 2023.
When, Where, and How to Watch?
Place: AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas
Date: Saturday, March 25, 2023
Time: ~10:00 PM ET
How to Watch: ESPN
Holly Holm, 41, Isn’t Giving Up Fighting professionally has been Holly’s passion since 2002. She also tried her hand at kickboxing and boxing during the early stages of her MMA career. And she did extremely well in those. She was, for instance, the world boxing champion several times in the early 2010s.
She also held the title in the UFC, winning the 2015 UFC Women’s Bantamweight title by knockout over Ronda Rousey. Things started to get worse for her after that. She won four UFC fights and lost six after beating Rousey.
She lost her most recent fight to Ketlen Vieira by split decision in the fight card’s main event. Holm, who was 40 at the time, appeared to be in good physical shape throughout the entire 25-minute fight. Given that The Preacher’s Daughter had been laid off for more than a year prior due to kidney issues, this came as a surprise to some.
Yana and Thiago Santos became parents in April, and Yana Santos is fighting her first fight since giving birth. The Russian fighter returns to the Octagon some 11 months after giving birth. She suffered her sixth defeat of her career when Irene Aldana knocked her out in round one (TKO).
In addition, she has 14 wins and one no contest in her portfolio. KO/TKO accounted for half of those victories, but she simply cannot do the same to Holm. Instead, Yana’s only chance of victory on Saturday is a point-by-point victory.
The bad news for her is that she can’t defeat Holm with her strongest weapon—striking. She could attempt to wrestle or grab Holm to the ground, but she is not very good at it. The confirmation is that her takedown precision is simply 53%. Holm’s TD defense, on the other hand, is 78%. There are three rounds in Antonio. Holm appears capable of fighting for 15 minutes even at 41.
