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Bantamweight Anderson dos Santos wants the quarantine to end so he can go back to training in Brazil.
UFC bantamweight Anderson do Santos would like to be able to train like he used to before the coronavirus pandemic hit Brazil and forced businesses all over the country to close the doors while they wait out the danger of spreading the contamination even further.
Alongside a large group of other martial arts practitioners, Anderson protested on the streets of Sao Paulo for gyms to open their doors again. The biggest metropolis in Latin America, Sao Paulo is the city with by far the most cases of COVID-19 in the country, being responsible for 1,345 of Brazil’s 3,313 official deaths as of the writing of this piece.
So far, there is no horizon for when gyms will be able to return to business in Brazil. Although state governor Joao Doria announced he will try slowly re-open some of the major businesses in Sao Paulo, gyms are not high on the list.
In Anderson’s opinion, gyms should also be considered, though, because they are a place where people can maintain their health by practicing physical activities, he told MMA Fighting in an interview.
“We sell health and sports in the gym, and it’s important that people continue practicing physical activities, and trainers and gym owners can keep their businesses alive.”
“We know we can’t have a gym with 10, 15, 20 training at the same time at the moment,” Anderson continued. “But we can [be flexible] a little bit and have two or three students per class. We know it’s too much to ask for wrestling, MMA, and jiu-jitsu classes for now, because there’s too much physical contact. But boxing classes, muay thai, hitting pads, it’s doable. That’s what we’re asking.”
Still winless in the Octagon, Anderson dos Santos (20-8) dropped unanimous decisions to both Nad Narimani and Andre Ewell in his last two outings, respectively in November 2018 and June 2019. The 34-year-old’s last win happened just 14 days before his UFC debut, on November 3, 2018, when he bested Aleandro Caetano via unanimous decision.