Santos was crisp from the outset, moving well and busting up Tate with long jabs while doing well to stuff the persistent takedown attempts from the former titleholder. Tate secured a takedown early in the third and moved to mount, putting Santos in a bad spot, but the Russian veteran wisely gave up her back, where she was able to defend the submission attempts and survive to the final horn.
When the judges scorecards were collected, it was in fact Santos that emerged victorious, securing her second straight win. This was a sharp outing with sharp, tactical decision-making from the veteran, whose striking looked impressive throughout the first two rounds.
