Thiago Santos gives shares thoughts on his split decision loss to Jon Jones at UFC 239.
He was the first man to ever sway one judge’s decision against Jon Jones, but that still was not enough to snatch the champion’s belt at UFC 239.
In a close stand-up affair, Thiago Santos came close to besting the reigning champion after five hard-fought rounds in Las Vegas, Nevada, but, according to ‘Marreta,’ a knee injury that stemmed from a misstep ultimately cost him the victory.
In an interview with Combate, the title challenger explained that he felt his knee snap out of place in the first round of the fight, which prevented him going all out against Jones. In Thiago’s point of view, the fight was going his way the whole, but he just couldn’t be more effective because of the injury.
“My knee snapped out of place in the first round,” Santos said. “I can’t really explain what happened. It wasn’t because of one of his strikes. I just stepped. I can’t explain it. That’s what you saw you during the fight. It hindered me, but I tried to do whatever I could under the conditions was in. I left everything in there. The fight was going just the way we trained for, I could see everything, all of his strikes. My knee hindered my attacks. It wasn’t a surprise, Everything I trained for happened. I thought it was a close fight. I thought I hit him more than he hit me. I don’t know.
“In the end, I was really disappointed about me knee and couldn’t give 100%. I recall hurting him a lot with my kicks to his legs and knees. My hands connected sometimes, but not the way I wanted. My progression, which was something we trained so much, was stopped because of my bad knee. Every time I progressed with my attacks, my knee buckled two or three times. I feel down trying to attack because of my knee.”
Regardless of the loss, “Marreta” still thinks taking on Jones for a 25-minute bout was a fruitful experience. Thiago told Combate he managed to confirm his theory that nobody is invincible in the Octagon, not even someone with a record as dominant as Bones.
“I’m still thinking the same thing I thought before fighting him,” Santos said. “He’s a human being, a man like any other. He feels pain, bleeds, gets hurt by strikes, too. I don’t think anybody is invincible. I had some good moments in the fight and could prove he is not invincible. Jones is talented, a really smart guy, incredible. He tried to control the fight the whole time. He’s a great champion, I have no words. I used to watch his fights, I have respect for him, he’s a great fighter. It wasn’t the result I expected, but I’m happy with the opportunity. I hope to meet him again.”
Before his loss to Jon Jones, Thiago Santos (21-7) was on a four-fight winning streak, with victories over the likes of Kevin Holland, Eryk Anders, Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz, with all but one of them coming by way of knockout.