FightPost MMA Fighter of the Week: Thiago Santos

FightPost MMA Fighter of the Week: Thiago Santos

By Kieran Cobley 

UFC light-heavyweight contender Thiago Santos takes this weeks “Fighter of the Week” honours, following his TKO victory over Polish contender Jan Blachowicz at UFC Prague.
Santos (20-6) and Blachowicz (23-7) were evenly matched going into the fight, with bookmaker Sky Bet having both men at 10/11 at one point, and it was clear both men had scouted their opponents well as the bell went.

In the early stages of the first round, Blachowicz made sure to use his jab to stop Santos gaining a head full of steam and setting a ferocious first round pace, like he Santos had done in his previous bout with Jimi Manuwa.

As the round went on both men were testing each other, throwing hard kicks to the legs and mid-section, but neither could land cleanly. Santos however did clip Blachowicz with a good left hand though, using one of his leg kicks to set up the punch.

Round two saw much of the same, but both men were starting to land, especially with the leg kicks, which both men utilised to lead in with heavier shots, and it was clear that this fight definitely wasn’t going to last the full five rounds. The round ended with Santos trying to throw some sort of cartwheel acrobatic kick. This was interesting as in previous fights, Santos’ use of these sort of strikes had put him in precarious positions, especially if he landed on his back.

The third round saw Santos finish the fight in standout fashion. As Blachowiz started to plough in with punches, Santos stepped back and swung a devastating left hook that connected cleanly on the polish fighter’s chin. Blachowicz fell to the ground head first and Santos jumped at the chance to reign down hammer fists to his downed opponent, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in and call the fight.

Santos will now likely face the winner of Jon Jones vs Anthony Smith, who fight next week at UFC 235 for the light-heavyweight title.

Honourable mentions this week go out to James Gallagher who got back to winning ways, forcing Steven Graham to tap out to a RNC in round two at Bellator 217 in Dublin, and to Chris Fishgold who picked up his first UFC win with a RNC against Daniel Teymur at UFC Prague in the second round.

Who was your fighter of the week? Let me know on Twitter by tweeting me @Cobleyreporting.