PFL Sioux Falls' Taila Santos Discusses Inadvertent Ban from 2025

Talia Santos (22-4 MMA, 3-1 PFL) hasn't fought inside the PFL SmartCage since Nov. 29, 2024. That night, in the PFL World Championships card, she fought Dakota Ditcheva (15-0 MMA, 10-0 PFL) for the women's flyweight championship. 

Although the fight was slated for an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round, Ditcheva made short work of her adversary on that November evening, finishing the contest inside the second round of action with shots to the body.

In 2025, the PFL abandoned its playoff system and its million-dollar championship fight in favor of a PFL World Tournament.  During the quarterfinal phase of the tournament, Taila Santos was scheduled to have fought Juliana Velasquez (14-4 MMA, 2-2 PFL) from Universal Orlando in April of 2025. Before the tournament could commence in the central part of Florida, however, a change was made to the bracket.

Taila Santos Eliminated from PFL World Tournament Before Punches Were Thrown

In the final days leading up to the April 11, 2025 PFL 2 card in Orlando, news broke that Santos was out of the bracket at 125 lbs. With Santos gone from the tournament, Velasquez instead fought Ekaterina Shakalova (9-4 MMA, 1-2 PFL.) Velasquez was submitted (rear-naked choke) by Shakalova in the first round before the two met in a rematch on Aug. 15, with Velasquez emerging victorious by unanimous decision in the reverse fixture.

A couple of weeks after the canceled contest against Velasquez was supposed to have occurred, news broke that Santos had violated the promotion's regulations on anti-doping. She'd returned positive tests for clenbuterol, noroxandrolone, and oroxoandrolone.

All told, Santos' ban was six months, retroactive to March of last year. Seven months after the ban was lifted, she's back in action this Saturday night during PFL Sioux Falls on the early card versus Qihui Yan (25-5 MMA, PFL promotional debut.)

Taila Santos Reveals How Suspension Came to Be

In the run-up to Saturday night's fights on ESPN+ and ESPN2 (United States only,) Taila Santos discussed a variety of topics in an interview, the suspension included. She stated that the positive tests were the end result of an error on her part, mentioning that her husband takes steroids for his bodybuilding career.

"We were rushing to go train," Taila Santos began, "and we get all our compounded substances from the same place. In the rush, I ended up taking one of his by mistake."

Santos enters the weekend in Sioux Falls having posted a record of 3-2 in her last five fights dating back to her final appearance in the UFC in 2023. Ahead of the loss at the hands of Ditcheva over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2024, she'd won three fights in succession, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Liz Carmouche (25-8 MMA, 5-1 PFL) the previous August.

Taila Santos Ready to Go After Suspension

In the wake of her six-month ban for positive drug tests, Santos mentioned that the time off from competition wasn't a deterrent for her.

"I used that time to get things back in order, especially mentally," she said, "and at the same time enjoy my family a bit and not let it affect me. I think it's something normal in the fight world. It's part of the game. How many athletes have gone through this process, right? It's like losing a fight."

As mentioned, Santos' opponent for PFL Sioux Falls over the weekend will be making her first walk to the SmartCage in her 31st professional fight at just 29 years old. Even though Yan has logged 30 fights in MMA before her 30th birthday, Santos admitted that finding film of her opponent was a challenge in and of itself.

"I didn't know who she was," she said of her opponent. "I really had to dig around ."