Luana Santos wants shot at top 15 after showing what she can do at full strength at UFC Denver

Luana Santos beat Mariya Agapova with a first-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 59 at Ball Arena in Denver.

Take a look inside the fight with Santos, who improved to 3-0 in the UFC.

Luana Santos def. Mariya Agapova

Result: Luana Santos def. Mariya Agapova via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:27

Updated records: Santos (8-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), Agapova (10-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC)

Key stats: Santos now has one submission in each year she’s been a pro fighter.

Santos on the fight's key moment

“I’ve been training to get the back for months – four months of training to get the back. I had to do the judo because that’s my thing – that’s where I come from. I needed to do it. But I’m so glad I trained that much because I was able to just get her and get the rear naked choke.”

Santos on her normal training camp

“It was great to actually have this. I trained so hard for this the last four months. I visualized this. I mentalized this. This is who I am when I get four months out of a full camp. You got to see the full, complete result.”

Santos on what she wants next

“I feel like after the wins I’ve had, I should get someone in the top 15. I think the UFC may give me that chance. … I do feel I’ll be ready by November or December.”

To hear more from Santos, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 59.

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