Thiago Santos will be fighting for UFC gold for the first time as he takes on Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 239. He has looked very impressed at light heavyweight which he is 3-0 with three TKO/KO wins. And, according to Jon Jones’ coach in Mike Winkeljohn, he knows the Brazilian is a dangerous opponent for his pupil.
“Yeah, he has that knockout power. He is very explosive and is very good what he does,” Winkeljohn said to BJPENN.com. “He is dangerous and can attack you first. But, we have to worry about the counter. That is the most dangerous thing about Thiago.”
Although he says Santos is a dangerous opponent, he knows what Jones needs to do to win the fight and that is to use his wrestling and adapt like he does mid-fight. But, Winkeljohn understands all it takes is one punch by Santos so he knows the champ has to be smart on his takedowns.
“Once Jon takes people down he lands the elbows and it is a bloody mess. So, the easiest path to victory is to take him down,” he explained. “But, with that being said, we don’t want to shoot and he lands a hard shot that hurts Jon. There are so many things that can happen.”
In the end, Mike Winkeljohn and Jon Jones are more than confident in this fight that Jones will hear ‘And Still’ by Bruce Buffer.
