Yana Kunitskaya thankful for boyfriend Thiago Santos training her for UFC Vegas 6 fight

By Cole Shelton - August 6, 2020

Yana Kunitskaya didn’t have many options to train with when the COVID-19 pandemic locked people in their homes.

Yana Kunitskaya, Thiago Santos

Kunitskaya was in Brazil with her boyfriend, Thiago Santos, so all her training was with him. Not only was he her main training partner, but she says the Brazilian will be in her corner and will help out drastically with her weight cut.

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“It is so important, Thiago helps me so much mentally and physically,” Yana Kunitskaya said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “When we were locked down we could train with each other and it is much better training. Especially he fights too so he understands the weight cut and what I go through. He helps me so much.”

At UFC Vegas 6, Kunitskaya was originally supposed to battle Ketlen Vieira. Yet, the Brazilain pulled out of the event and was replaced by Julija Stoliarenko. The fight will be in the smaller Octagon which the Russian likes.

So, Kunitskaya is confident she will get her hand raised and then look to fight anyone ranked above her.

“There are still a lot of girls in the rankings above me that I want to fight,” she explained. “Right now, I’m just focused on getting the win but anyone higher ranked, I’m interested in fighting.”

If she does just that, Yana Kunitskaya will immediately go back into the gym to help Thiago Santos prepare for his fight against Glover Teixeira.

So, for the Russian, she isn’t sure when she will fight again after Saturday night. But, Kunitskaya hopes to get another fight in 2020.

“I have a lot of things I need to do after the fight, so I don’t think I’ll be back right away. Thiago fights so my focus will be on him and then I need to come back and get my son,” she concluded. “So, that will take some time. Maybe four months after this one. Probably I’ll get another one this year.”

Do you think Yana Kunitskaya will beat Julija Stoliarenko at UFC Vegas 6?


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Exclusive MMA Interviews Thiago Santos UFC Yana Kunitskaya