Santos was born on February 5, 1980 in Rio de Janeiro. His brother is MMA fighter Wagnney Fabiano. He started training Jiu Jitsu when he was 5 years old under the legendary trainer Wendell Alexander in Vila da penha at the Mello Tenis Club. Although Santos as a kid had other interests and didn’t enjoy training all that much but he felt obliged to train as his older cousin and brother were avid Jiu Jitsu practitioners. With time Santos started enjoying the benefits of Jiu Jitsu and also started enjoying the BJJ routine, success in BJJ Comps came with this new found love for the martial art. In 1995 Mr. Alexander joined with Dedé Pederneiras to make Nova Uniao, one of the strongest teams in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the world had seen, and Leo Santos soon was one of Nova Uniao’s star competitors. In 2002 Santos stopped competing at the Mundial as this competition did not offer prize money to its competitors. This was something that a lot of fighters pressed for and which catapulted the rise of CBJJO. Santos started competing in CBJJO’s tournaments only and was undefeated for over 5 years in that organization.
Santos make his MMA debut against rising undefeated Japanese superstar Takanori Gomi, who at the time was the Shooto World Welterweight Champion. The fight ended with a Majority Decision win for Gomi. After this bout Santos returned to BJJ full-time, winning the World Cup Championship 4 times between 2002 and 2005. In 2006 after a short time helping his brother Wagnney with his academy in Canada, Leonardo started dedicating himself fully to MMA. He compiled an 8–3 record with major promotions like Shooto and World Victory Road.
BAMMA
He made his BAMMA debut at BAMMA 6, defeating Jason Ball via unanimous decision. Santos was scheduled to face Rob Sinclair at BAMMA 7, however he pulled out of the fight, refusing to fly over from Paris as he knew he would not make weight and knew he would not be able make the full amount of money from competing anyway.
In March 2013, it was revealed that Santos was a cast member of. He won his elimination fight to get into the TUF house, defeating Luciano Contini by TKO in round 1. He was chosen to be a member of Team Nogueira. Over the course of the show, Santos defeated Juliano Wandalen and Thiago Santos both by unanimous decision to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, he lost to Santiago Ponzinibbio by unanimous decision. However, Ponzinibbio broke his hand during this semifinal fight and was replaced by Santos in the finals against William Macário. This semifinal-round fight with Ponzinibbio, however, was picked as the Fight of the Season, and both welterweights picked up a $25,000 bonus.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Santos fought Macário in the finals on June 8, 2013 at. After a strong first round by Macário, Santos rallied and won via submission in the second round to become the tournament winner. For his second fight with the promotion, Santos faced lightweight winner Norman Parke at UFC Fight Night 38. The fight ended in a majority draw. Santos faced returning veteran Efrain Escudero on September 13, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 51. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Santos was expected to face Matt Wiman on March 21, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 62. However, Wiman was forced out of the bout on February 11 with a back injury and was replaced by Tony Martin. He won the fight by submission in the second round. Santos faced Kevin Lee on December 12, 2015 at UFC 194. Despite being a significant underdog, Santos won the fight via TKO in the first round and earned a Performance of the Night bonus. Santos was expected to face Evan Dunham on June 4, 2016 at UFC 199. However, Santos pulled out on April 29 due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by James Vick. Santos next faced Adriano Martins on October 8, 2016 at UFC 204. He won the fight via split decision. Santos was expected to face Olivier Aubin-Mercier on June 3, 2017 at UFC 212. However the bout was scrapped on May 18 as both fighters were removed from the card. Santos was expected to face Nik Lentz on June 1, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 131. However, it was reported on April 28, 2018 that Santos was pulled from the event due to a hand injury. Santos faced Stevie Ray on June 1, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 153. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. The win also earned Santos his second Performance of the Night bonus award. Santos was set to face Jared Gordon on November 16, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 22. However, he withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Charles Oliveira. Santos faced Roman Bogatov on July 11, 2020 at UFC 251. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
