Thiago Santos has been in plenty of wars before including against Jan Blachowicz, Jon Jones and Jamahal Hill to name a few.
Having just turned 40 last month, Santos (22-11 with 1 No Contest) views this period as the twilight of his career. Yet, that doesn’t mean the veteran is going to implement a more conservative fighting style.
If anything, he wants the opposite in the form of fireworks and will aim for just that Saturday when he clashes with Yoel Romero (15-7) in a light heavyweight showcase as part of the PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions event, live on DAZN and DAZN PPV.
“I know [retirement's] close — maybe two, three years maximum,” Santos told DAZN during a recent Zoom session. “I’m very happy to still be able to do what I love to do. I need to prove it to myself. I want to go there, put on a show and have a big win against Yoel Romero.
“I have to keep attacking and moving forward,” he continued. “I have to put pressure on him. That’s my plan – pressure him, keep the fight standup, put my strikes on the game and try to knock him out.”
Over the years, Santos has admired Romero from afar. On a closer level, the two trained together several years ago. From that experience and the fact that the veterans are still fighting into their 40s, Santos sees similarities.
“He’s always in wars and was a former title challenger like me,” Santos tacked on. “He’s a legend of the sport. He’s a tough opponent and I’m very excited about that. I expect fireworks from this fight. There’s no bad blood between us — only respect.”
Santos notably tore his ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus of his left knee in a scintillating split-decision loss to Jones back in July 2019. He returned in November 2020 and has suffered four losses over his next six fights, with his last bout against Rob Wilkinson being ruled an overturned No Contest in April.
Santos can’t pinpoint an exact end of his MMA road, but firmly wants to optimize the time he has left by emptying the tank with all-action fights, especially Saturday against Romero.
“It’s going to be fireworks for sure, but it’s the job,” Santos said. “I’ve been doing this all my life so it will be hard to stop.”
Live on DAZN: Haney vs. Garcia on April 20. Click here for details.