Yana Kunitskaya was born in 1989, in the city of Murmansk, Murmansk Oblast, in northwestern Russia. Her mother, Olga Kunitskaya, was a professional gymnast and her father, Joseph, was a professional skier. She has a younger sister, Victoria. Yana became involved in martial arts early in her childhood, starting with taekwondo at preschool age, and won numerous tournaments among both girls and boys, with many fights ending in knockouts. At 12 years old, she began competing in hand-to-hand combat, participating in a large number of fights without suffering a defeat. When she was 16 years old, Kunitskaya went to live and study in St. Petersburg, and entered the SPGUFK team at Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health, Department of Boxing. At age 18, she started practicing mixed martial arts. On August 9, 2012, Kunitskaya announced that she was pregnant with her first child. In August 2013, she announced the end of her sports career and her transition to coaching, but she came out of retirement three years later. She then signed a contract with the Invicta Fighting Championships in which only females compete.
Kunitskaya made her professional mixed-martial-arts debut on May 23, 2009, at a K-1 World Grand Prix event in Poland. She defeated Magdalena Jarecka by technical knockout in the first round. After winning two of her next three fights, Kunitskaya faced unbeaten prospect Cindy Dandois at on December 10, 2010. She defeated Dandois by TKO in 34 seconds. On November 19, 2011, Kunitskaya faced Arune Lauzeckaite at Bushido Hero's: World Grand PrixLithuania, winning by TKO in the first round. In 2012, Kunitskaya faced Ekaterina Saraykina at Verdict Fighting Championship 1 on February 11, defeating Saraykina by TKO in the first round. In March, she faced Anna Melikhova at Lion's Fights 1 and won by unanimous decision after two rounds. She then defeated Sylwia Kusiak by TKO in round one at Baltic Arena in Koszalin, Poland, in June. Kunitskaya was scheduled to face Danielle West at Starlight Events: Gladiator World Cup 2012 on July 6 in Marbella, Spain, but the event was cancelled. Kunitskaya had fought almost exclusively in Russia, and built her record to 9 wins and 2 losses before signing to Invicta FC.
Invicta Fighting Championships
Yana defeated Tonya Evinger for the Invicta FC Bantamweight title on November 18, 2016. On December 1, the win was overturned to a no contest, so Evinger retained her title. Kunitskaya faced Evinger in a rematch in the main event of on March 25, 2017, and lost by submission in the second round. Kunitskaya defeated Raquel Pa'aluhi at Invicta FC 25 on August 31, 2017, to win the vacant Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Kunitskaya made her Ultimate Fighting Championship promotional debut at UFC 222 on March 3, 2018, against Cris Cyborg for the featherweight title. She lost the fight by TKO in the first round. Kunitskaya next faced Lina Länsberg on October 6, 2018, at UFC 229. She won the fight via unanimous decision Kunitskaya then faced Marion Reneau on March 9, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 146. She won the fight by unanimous decision. Kunitskaya faced Aspen Ladd on December 7, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 7. She lost the fight via technical knockout in round three. Kunitskaya was scheduled to face Ketlen Vieira on August 1, 2020 at. and on July 15, 2020, it was announced that the bout was moved to UFC Fight Night 174 on August 8, 2020. Subsequently, Vieira was removed from the card on July 30 for undisclosed reasons and replaced by Julija Stoliarenko.
Personal life
Kunitskaya is in a relationship with fellow UFC athlete, Thiago Santos.
