Thiago Santos believes Johnny Walker’s style will leave opportunities for him to seize at UFC Vegas 38.
Former light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos does not think there needs to be a convoluted gameplan to take on someone like Johnny Walker. Paired up against his fellow countryman at UFC Vegas 38, ‘Marreta’ believes that Walker’s own careless style might be his downfall, as long as Santos knows how to capitalize on it when the time comes.
In an interview with Combate, Thiago explained how the most dangerous aspect of Walker’s way of fighting is his unpredictability. However, after watching tape and training for the fight, Marreta does not think Johnny will bring many new weapons to the Octagon on Saturday.
“He has a different, unorthodox style,” Santos said. “It’s hard to predict. He throws some unusual strikes, but I’ve had a really good camp. I’ve had some good sparring sessions for that. He doesn’t change too much from one fight to the next, there’s no big mystery about him. He just tries to surprise you with unusual strikes all the time. That’s it. I just need to be attentive, ready and try to capitalize on one of those mistakes he makes when he does that. He exposes himself a lot.”
Currently on a three-fight losing skid, Santo knows a win against Walker is a must. However, due to his previous defeats being close affairs to high-level competition in Jon Jones, Glover Teixeira and Aleskandar Rakic, Marreta still feels confident he can turn his career around.
“Nobody likes a loss,” Santos said. “I don’t like to lose either, but I don’t let that get to me, especially when you consider how they happened. Nobody destroyed me. Even coming off injuries, I was competitive in those fights. I didn’t win, but I was competitive. Of course I’m super anxious for this next fight. I’m much better than my previous ones and I’ll show it on Saturday.”
Having lost to Rakic, Teixeira and Jones, Thiago’s (21-9) latest wins now dates back to February 2019. However, that victory is over none other than the division’s current champion, Jan Blachowicz, via TKO.
Now, Santos is set to take on Walker at UFC Vegas 38’s main event, on October 2. The card is scheduled to take place at the UFC Apex, in Las Vegas, Nevada.