After the 6-foot-8 Renan
Ferreira‘s impressive but controversial debut in Professional
Fighters League, another Brazilian giant will get a chance to
showcase his talents on a larger stage.
Edivan
Santos, who stands 6-foot-7 and has compiled a record of 12-2-2
on the Brazilian regional scene, will face Russian Rizvan
Kuniev on the upcoming season of Dana White’s Contender Series
on Sept. 28.
Born in Maranhão, Brazill, Santos has lived in Curitiba since 2018.
Santos trains muay Thai with Chute Boxe black belts Nadim Andraus
and Roberto Piccinini and boxing with Vitoriano Martinez, who is
the father of Vale Tudo legend Jose Landi-Johns. He is also a
jiu-jitsu purple belt and according to master Picinini “has a
uncommon speed and agility for a heavyweight.”
Andraus told Sherdog.com that Santos had a bout scheduled against
Kirill
Kornilov at Open Fighting Championship 5 in Russia on June 12,
but after signing to compete in the Contender Series, his team
elected to cancel that bout to focus on the camp for Kuniev.
“UFC is the World Cup of MMA, all fighters in the world dream to
get there,” Andraus said. “Edivan is working hard to provide a
great show against Kuniev and sign a dream contract with UFC.”
With eight wins via knockout and four by way of submission, Santos
will fight outside of Brazil for the first time against an opponent
with a comparable resume. Kuniev is 9-2-1 as a professional
and also owns a 13-2 mark as an amateur.