UFC parts ways with former flyweight title contender Taila Santos

Taila Santos is no longer under contract with the UFC.

The Brazilian flyweight, who came close to upsetting Valentina Shevchenko in a flyweight title bout in June 2022, was released from her deal, multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting. Twitter user Roster Tracker first reported the news.

Santos earned a shot at the UFC belt with wins over Molly McCann, Gillian Robertson, Roxanne Modafferi and Joanne Wood in a span of 14 months, and took Shevchenko to a highly contested split decision in Singapore.

Santos lost an unanimous decision to Erin Blanchfield in her most recent bout in August. The match was postponed from its original date of February after Santos decided to withdraw when both cornermen, one being her husband, had visas denied multiple times to enter the United States.

The 30-year-old leaves the UFC with a company record of 4-3 after signing through Dana White‘s Contender Series in 2018, going 19-3 overall in her professional MMA career.