Thiago Santos reveals he accepted a bout at UFC 227 with Alexander Gustafsson.
Santos will instead go one-on-one with Kevin Holland. Gustafsson was scheduled to take on Volkan Oezdemir tomorrow night (Aug. 4). Oezdemir went down with a broken nose. Fresh off his first-round destruction over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Anthony Smith expressed interest in a bout with Gustafsson. Shortly after the call out, Gustafsson’s management team revealed a minor injury that forced him off the card.
Thiago Santos Reveals He Agreed To Fight Alexander Gustafsson
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Santos said that he was offered to fight “The Mauler” and he accepted. Gustafsson ended up turning the fight down:
“I like to fight. I’m a fighter. I don’t pick and choose and wait for the right opponent. I accepted three fights and it didn’t happen. They even offered me ‘Shogun’, but I turned that one down because I’m a big ‘Shogun’ fan, told my manager I wouldn’t fight him. And then they offered me Gustafsson, and that one I accepted, but he turned it down. I kind of expected that already because I’m a middleweight and he’s a light heavyweight contender, that would be a big risk for him. But I volunteered. If he had said yes, I would have loved to fight him — and wouldn’t even cut weight.”
UFC 227 will be held inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. In the main event, UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw will defend his gold against Cody Garbrandt once again. The co-main event will also feature a title rematch. Flyweight king Demetrious Johnson will do battle with Henry Cejudo once again. Can lightning strike twice for the champions? We’ll find out tomorrow night. MMA News will provide live coverage of UFC 227.
Would you have liked to have seen Thiago Santos try his hand against Alexander Gustafsson?
