Last UFC Fight Night 70, Brazilian MMA middleweight Thiago “Marreta” Santos defeated Steve Bosse in just under 29 seconds. After this epic win in his entire career, Santos is now aiming to go against some fighters and he wants it to happen as soon as possible.
“Wherever the UFC wants me, I am in. But I think either Derek Brunson or Josh Samman would make for a good fight,” Santos said in a recent interview with MMAjunkie.
Santos, who has a record of 11-3 MMA and 3-2 UFC, is a previous cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2”. This 31-year old had both wins and losses in his first few appearances in the UFC. Unfortunately, he lost to fighters Uriah Hall and Cezar Ferreira in his first and third fight, but he was able to bounce back impressively through a 53-second TKO win against Ronny Markes in his second bout inside the octagon.
After these fights, Santos was able to get into his winning groove and achieved several victory streaks. He was able to defeat Boss and received a hefty “Performance of the Night” bonus worth $50,000. Just last January, he was able to win over Andy Enz in less than two minutes and ended the match by a TKO win.
Santos revealed that the reason why he won those fights is because of the progress he achieved in the gym.
“The win against Bosse was the fastest fight of my career. I am really happy to have been able to put to work all that I have trained. These results are just a reflection of my training,” Santos said.
After all these victories, Santos was asked what his next plan is. Santos admitted that he went through the middleweight fighters and wanted to help Joe Silva, the UFC matchmaker, by pointing out two fighters that might be the perfect contender for him.
Brunson, who has a record of 14-3 MMA and 5-1 UFC, went into the octagon earlier this month. He was able to defeat Sam Alvey by a first-round TKO win. With this win under his belt, Brunson has now a three-fight winning streak. Aside from this impressive record, Brunson has a record of 5-2 in the UFC. His only loss is from one of the top contenders, Yoel Romero, in the recent “Fight of the Night” event.
Samman, on the other hand, has a record of 12-2 MMA and 3-0 UFC. He was also a cast member on “The Ultimate Fighter 17” and had three stoppage victories, which had set a record in his entire UFC career. Aside from this, he also received “Performance of the Night” bonuses, just like Santos.
Santos, whose five wins are all under the first round, believes that both Samman and Brunson can put up an interesting and entertaining fight with him. He even admitted that it would be totally fine with him if both fighters will be put up against him before the year ends.
“I would like to get two more fights in this year and end the year undefeated. Everything in its own time. I want to fight, and I am sure I’ll get there. Keep on rooting for me because I will bring a lot of excitement for Brazil and for my fans,” he said.