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Tag: Thiago Santos

  • Yoel Romero, Three Other UFC & PFL Alumni Sign With BKFC

    Yoel Romero, Three Other UFC & PFL Alumni Sign With BKFC

    Four former UFC fighters, including a trio of former UFC title challengers, are going from the MMA world to the world of bare-knuckle fighting.

    During the BKFC Champions Summit press conference with Conor McGregor, held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas ahead of BKFC 48, McGregor announced the additions of Yoel Romero, Thiago Santos, Derek Brunson, and Aspen Ladd to the BKFC roster.

    Romero and Santos were the particular focuses of the announcement — highlighting their striking power and their veteran statuses.

    BKFC Announces Four Signings, Including Yoel Romero And Thiago Santos

    Romero and Santos, in fact, faced off in MMA just a year-and-a-half ago. The two faced off during the PFL vs. Bellator broadcast, with Romero, who was representing Bellator, winning via a clear unanimous decision.

    Romero has not fought in MMA since the win, while Santos had one more fight, a short-notice loss to eventual 2024 PFL heavyweight champion Denis Goltsov during the regular season.

    Romero — a freestyle wrestling silver medalist at the 2000 Olympics and a former freestyle wrestling World and Pan-American champion — went 16-7 in professional MMA, including a 9-4 UFC record. Romero scored victories over the likes of Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and Chris Weidman, but was unsuccessful in middleweight title challenges of Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya.

    Romero then had a five-fight stint in Bellator, going 3-2 — which included the win over Santos and an unsuccessful title shot against then-Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov.

    Santos fought in the UFC for about a decade, but his biggest stretch came when he jumped from middleweight to light heavyweight. Santos would finish Eryk Anders, Jimi Manuwa, and Jan Blachowicz, receiving a title shot against then-champ Jon Jones at UFC 239. Santos would lose in a controversial decision. That would be the start of a downward stretch Santos never recovered from, losing all but one of his fights since the Jones loss.

    After his tenure with the UFC, Santos fought in the PFL, debuting with a loss to Rob Wilkinson — a bout that would be overturned to a no contest.

    Brunson came into the UFC as Strikeforce was being merged with the promotion and slowly being folded. Brunson earned victories over the likes of Lorenz Larkin, Uriah Hall, Lyoto Machida, and Kevin Holland, as well as losses to Souza, Whittaker, Adesanya, Anderson Silva, Jared Cannonier, and Dricus Du Plessis. Brunson fought in MMA once after his UFC days — a win over Ray Cooper III at the 2023 PFL World Championships.

    Ladd debuted in Invicta in 2015 and went unbeaten in five fights before joining the UFC two years later. Ladd won her first three UFC bouts before a loss to Germaine de Randamie. Ladd would struggle with consistent success — and had a near-two-year period of inactivity at one point — before parting ways with the UFC after a 2022 loss to Raquel Pennington.

    Ladd debuted in PFL in November of that year with a win over former Bellator champion Julia Budd. She then competed in the 2023 women’s featherweight season, losing to Olena Kolesnyk but defeating Karolina Sobek. Ladd missed the playoffs but fought in a showcase bout later that year, losing to current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison.

    Ladd’s last MMA fight came at the Bellator Champions Series event in Paris in May 2024, defeating Ekaterina Shakalova.

  • Thiago Santos On UFC Vegas 50 Defeat To Ankalaev: “No Excuses”

    UFC light heavyweight Thiago Santos isn’t making excuses for his performance after falling to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Vegas 50.

    Santos looked to earn a second straight win in his second straight UFC main event against the upstart Ankalaev. However, it wasn’t meant to be as he appeared hesitant to throw strikes and find his timing throughout the fight with Ankalaev.

    Santos, who previously had gone toe-to-toe with Jon Jones at UFC 239, has failed to recapture the same magic in losses in three of his last four fights. He’s fallen to the likes of Aleksandar Rakic, Glover Teixeira, and now Ankalaev.

    In a recent Instagram post, Santos addressed his fans while also reflecting on the loss to Ankalaev.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CbDWw4-piiG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    “No words about yesterday, no excuses, another hard and painful defeat,” Santos said. “Still, my faith in God remains unshakable and my gratitude to him, my family, my friends, coaches and true fans only increases, thank you for everything.”

    Santos had once looked like a world-beater after moving from middleweight to light heavyweight earlier in his UFC career. While he remains a dangerous foe for most 205 pounders, it’s unclear whether or not he’ll still be able to contend for a light heavyweight title.

    Despite the disappointing loss, Santos seems optimistic about his future in the UFC. He’ll look to get back in the win column with his next potential appearance later this year.

    What do you think is next for Thiago Santos?

  • Fighters React To Ankalaev Outlasting Santos At UFC Vegas 50

    Magomed Ankalaev has continued his rise through the UFC light heavyweight division with a victory over Thiago Santos in the main event of UFC Vegas 50 this evening.

    The duo went five rounds at the UFC Apex in what was for the most part a cagey affair. Dagestan native Ankalaev, who went into the bout on a seven-fight win streak, pushed the pace early on before Santos earned a knockdown in round two. But Ankalaev responded by landing the only takedown of the fight in round four and rounding out a unanimous decision win by outstriking Santos 70-60.

    The #6 ranked Ankalaev’s UFC record now stands at 8-1, and with victory over #5-ranked Santos, we’ll likely see the 29-year-old break into the top five in the coming days.

    You can catch the highlights of the main event below.

    This was Ankalaev’s eighth UFC win in a row.

    Ankalaev won the final scorecard of 49-46, 49-46, 48-47.

    Now, let’s see how fighters reacted to the UFC Vegas 50 main event.

    UFC Vegas 50: Santos vs. Ankalaev Results & Highlights

    MMA News is providing ongoing coverage of UFC Vegas 50. We’ve got you covered with live results, video highlights, and post-fight tidbits.

  • Archives: Jon Jones Likens Thiago Santos to His Fiancée (2019)

    Despite Jon Jones’ initial doubts found in the following story, Thiago Santos proved that he was a worthy opponent when he took the LHW GOAT to the only split decision of his career three years ago. Tonight at UFC Vegas 50, Santos will go up against another dominant light heavyweight in Magomed Ankalaev in the main event.

    The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.

    [ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 25, 2019, 1:37 PM]

    Jon Jones is no more worried about Thiago Santos’ knockout power than he is that of his fiancée.

    At UFC 239 Jon Jones will defend his light heavyweight championship against the dangerous Thiago Santos. The story leading up to the fight is that the power Santos possesses in his limbs could be the key to someone finally defeating Jon Jones. Though this might be an area of concern for some fans and betters of Jon Jones come July 6, it isn’t to the man himself, who believes that power is universal; execution is not:

    “No, I’m not worried about him at all,” Jones said in an appearance on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show on Monday. “I feel like my fiancée’s strong enough to knock me out if I put my hands behind my back and let her punch me right in the chin. A lot of people hit hard. Everybody has the power to knock out anybody. My manager can knock me out if I let him punch me in the face. It’s about being smart enough to land that punch.”

    Of course, one glaring difference between Thiago Santos and Jon Jones’s fiancée is that, unlike his fiancée, Santos has 15 wins by knockout. But Jones maintains that it isn’t the heavy hitters like Quinton Jackson, Glover Teixeira, Vitor Belfort he has fought in the past that concern him, it is those who can test his fight psychology:

    “Everyone hits hard,” Jones reiterated. “The fighters that concern me the most are the intelligent fighters, the guys who can set up those punches or set up a solid game plan. So I’m not too worried about Thiago. I’ve fought many guys with big muscles and big knockout power. I started doing that at 23 years old.

    “So, no, I’m not worried about anything. I’ve just got to go out there, have faith in my abilities, and my team that’s around me, my intelligence towards the game, and everything else will fall into place.”

    Do you believe Jon Jones should be worried about Thiago Santos’s knockout power?

  • Santos Finally Feels “100%” After Knee Injury Ahead Of Ankalaev Fight

    Thiago Santos says he finally feels like himself again ahead of his UFC Vegas 50 main event against Magomed Ankalaev.

    Santos returned to the win column last October with a decision win over Johnny Walker which snapped his three-fight losing skid. On the losing streak, he dropped a decision to Aleksandar Rakic, a submission loss to Glover Teixeira, and a split-decision loss to Jon Jones for the belt in a fight he tore both his knees in.

    Since the Jones fight and tearing both his knees, Santos has admitted his knee hasn’t felt the same but that changed this camp.

    “It’s going good. It’s a long process. I came back, I fought, I didn’t win, but I feel like my progress—I feel better every single fight. I’m pretty sure this next fight, I will be so much better than my last fight,” Santos said to MMAJunkie.

    Thiago Santos
    Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

    According to Santos, he says he doesn’t think he returned when he was 100% and that showed in his performances. He says the mental toll also played a role in his performances

    “I was able to fight, you know, but I can’t say I was 100%. Like I said, it’s a long process. Not only physical, but mental. I cannot say I was 100%. I was able to fight, but I did not feel 100%,” Santos explained. “Now, I can say I feel 100%. I feel mentally good (and) physically good. Even in my camp, I didn’t have any problems. I did everything, all our training stuff—wrestling, jiu-jitsu; I could train everything, so I feel 100%.”

    Thiago Santos is currently ranked fifth at light heavyweight while Magomed Ankalaev is ranked sixth. Both men believe if they get a big win here they could get a title shot. It’s certainly not out of the question, as even in Santos’ fight against Teixeira, he dropped him a couple of times and nearly finished him.

    Do you think Thiago Santos will defeat Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Vegas 50?

  • Santos: I’ll Prove I’m Still In The Game By Stopping Ankalaev’s Rise

    UFC light heavyweight contender Thiago Santos is hoping to prove he’s still a player at 205 pounds by halting the rise of surging Dagestani Magomed Ankalaev.

    Having rebounded from a three-fight losing skid last time out by besting Johnny Walker in the UFC Vegas 38 main event, Santos will be hoping to open his 2022 account with success in what will be the Brazilian’s fourth headliner in his last five outings.

    In his way of a two-fight win streak will be Ankalaev, a rising contender widely considered a future champion. The Makhachkala-born 29-year-old will ride a seven-fight win streak into UFC Vegas 50, a run of form that includes dominant victories over Ion Cuțelaba, Nikita Krylov, and Volkan Oezdemir.

    Despite having his hand raised last October, Santos didn’t massively impress in what was undoubtedly a disappointing and lackluster five-round clash.

    With that in mind, and given his prior defeats to Aleksandar Rakić, Glover Teixeira, and Jon Jones, many have questioned whether “Marreta” still has what it takes to hang with the light heavyweight best.

    This Saturday, Santos’ mission will be to prove his detractors wrong.

    Santos Excited For “Good Opportunity” Versus Ankalaev

    During a recent interview with MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura, Santos, who will be making the walk to the Octagon for the 23rd time this weekend, explained why he sees the UFC Vegas 50 headliner as a good opportunity.

    Despite the immense challenge in front of him, the Brazilian said he’s looking to show that he’s still “in this game” by adding a second blemish to Ankalaev’s 17-fight résumé.

    “He’s a big challenge for me. He’s a young guy, prospect, so I’m so excited for this fight… He’s doing a very good job. But it’s a good opportunity. I can show to everyone I’m still in this game.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CYkPokLraZJ/

    With both men coming off wins and inside the light heavyweight top six, Saturday’s contest could have huge implications for the title picture. Now that Jiří Procházka is set to challenge for Teixeira’s gold at UFC 275, the race to ascend to the spot in the queue behind the Czech is underway.

    Given Rakić is likely to have his clash with Jan Blachowicz re-arranged for later in the year, it appears the victor in that matchup will lead the charge. Nevertheless, you’d expect this weekend’s winner to be just one more triumph away from a date with the champion.

    Who do you think will have their hand raised in this weekend’s main event, Thiago Santos or Magomed Ankalaev?