Former UFC fighter Laura Sanko sets social media alight with ‘thirst trap’

A former UFC fighter turned analyst has set hearts racing and left jaws on the floor after uploading a beachside photo.

UFC analyst lights up social media

Laura Sanko’s latest thirst trap has Instagram buzzing.

The former UFC fighter, who now serves as a colour commentator and MMA analyst for ESPN, shared a stunning bikini snap on Instagram Friday, and joked that she had to post a thirst trap.

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“My quarterly thirst trap so the IG algorithm will pick me up again,” Sanko wrote in her caption with a crying-laughing emoji.

The former fighter added “gratitude” in her post, which has garnered more than 51,000 likes as of Monday.

Sanko’s selfie appeared to be taken at a beach location, where she sunbathed in an orange bikini.

The UFC analyst rang in her 40th birthday in December, and put her abs on display with a separate gym photo on Instagram.

“Never thought I’d be 40 … but here we are,” Sanko wrote at the time.

“I have a feeling this will be my best decade yet but I need you guys to help me!… I want to go into my 40s wiser than ever,” she continued, and asked her followers to drop some advice in the comments.

At UFC 68 in February, Sanko became the second female analyst on a major UFC event in the promotion’s history — and the first since famed kickboxer Kathy Long was an analyst on UFC 1 in 1993.

In 2021, UFC president Dana White hired Sanko to do cageside analysis, and her career has taken off since then.

She also works on Dana White’s Contender Series.

The day after she turned 40, Sanko attend the 14th annual Fighters Only World Mixed Martial Arts Awards in Las Vegas with her husband Nathan Sanko.

Nathan, who doesn’t appear to have social media, is the co-founder and CEO of Leggera Technologies, LLC, as well as the owner of Back 2 Basics Beef, LLC, according to LinkedIn.

The couple reportedly tied the knot in September 2012, and share a son, Burke.

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.