(photo via UFC.com)
Former Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge ‘Sandman’ Santiago (23-9) returned to the Ultimate Fighting Championship last weekend at UFC 130 in Las Vegas against fan favorite Brian Stann. It was the first time that Santiago has stepped into the Octagon since his last appearance back in December 2006 at a UFC Fight Night 7 event.
The result was not the way the ‘Sandman’ had envisioned his return, suffering a second round TKO loss to Stann in the opening bout of the UFC 130 pay-per-view. The one positive of the Brazilians performance last Saturday was that UFC President Dana White awarded both men the $70,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus.
Now that Santiago has had a few days to reflect on the loss, the former Sengoku champ spoke to Tatame.com telling them that he “thought it’d be easy and I lost focus” against Stann.
“I guess what went wrong is that I was too confident. I didn’t feel the pressure by the fans, of having everybody staring at me. I was to at ease, I thought it’d be easy and I lost focus. I didn’t do what I could’ve done. The guys that train with me and are part of my team, like Gesias (Cavalcante), said I didn’t do half what I could. It was his big day. Next time I won’t let it happen.”
“They (UFC promoters) haven’t say anything (about the next bout), but they liked the bout, and you can tell it because they considered it the best of the evening. There were many good things about it, it was a busy bout, which is something that the fans enjoy.”