Taila Santos suffered her first professional loss at perhaps the worst possible time: her UFC debut.
Prior to that night in February 2019, the Brazilian Muay Thai standout had managed to get the W – usually by KO – in fifteen consecutive appearances, including a bout on Dana White’s Contender Series that catapulted her into the promotion.
“On my debut, I didn’t feel like I was actually there. I lost my focus and couldn’t focus on the fight,” she explained via translator.
It’s possible she’s being overly critical about the performance. Opening night jitters or not, it was still a narrow split decision on the scorecards that ultimately went to Mara Romero Borella, who, at that point had a couple more years under the bright lights.