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Taila Santos will look to crack the UFC’s top-10 flyweight rankings in the spring.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that a matchup between Santos and Roxanne Modafferi is set for the UFC’s event on May 8, which currently does not have a location or venue. Combate was first to report the pairing.
Modafferi will look to get back in the win column in her 44th professional bout. “The Happy Warrior” went 2-1 in 2020 with victories over Maycee Barber at UFC 246 and Andrea Lee in September. In her first 2021 appearance, she dropped a unanimous decision to surging contender Viviane Araujo at January’s UFC Fight Island 8 event in Abu Dhabi.
Santos earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series and entered the UFC with a 15-0 record. She suffered her first loss via split decision to Mara Borella in her promotional debut in February 2019. Since then, the 27-year-old has earned dominant unanimous decision wins in bouts against Molly McCann and Gillian Robertson to crack the top-15 at 125-pounds.
The UFC’s May 8 event also features a welterweight matchup between Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez.