Former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger
Thiago
Santos believes his former foe will win this weekend.
After nearly 10 years with the UFC, including 24 appearances
against some of the greatest fighters to grace the Octagon, Santos
is now on the outside looking in. The man known as “Marreta”
successfully requested his release from the organization to go
fight for greener pastures in the form of the Professional Fighters League. Despite leaving
the UFC roster, Santos is still paying close attention to his
former company and past opponents, especially ones that invoke his
name. Ahead of the UFC
285 clash between Jon Jones and
Ciryl
Gane, Jones suggested that Santos was a more difficult opponent
than Gane and a better overall striker. The Brazilian briefly spoke
to Sherdog about Jones’ comments and his upcoming match in the new
promotion this week.
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“A real warrior recognizes the other,” Santos said graciously. “I
couldn’t expect anything different from ‘Bones.’ No doubt we [had]
and epic fight…a real war. Gane is a real tough opponent, but Jones
is a different animal. I believe [Jones] will win Saturday and get
the UFC heavyweight belt.”
For his very first appearance under the PFL banner, Santos will be
serving in the co-main event spot of
PFL 1: 2023 Regular Season. In his light heavyweight tournament
debut, “Marreta” will square off with 2022 champ and fellow UFC
expat Rob
Wilkinson. Tapped to face arguably the best fighter on the
division’s roster, Santos felt extremely motivated to perform well
on April 1.
“I’m moved by challenges, and facing the current PFL GP champion on
my first fight is a great one. I love to fight opponents who comes
to brawl with me, and Rob also has an aggressive style. I want to
show that I came to be the champion of the division, and there is
no better fight than facing the current champion to show that,”
Santos concluded.