When Thiago Santos was offered the opportunity to step in and face Jimi Manuwa in Sao Paulo on September 22nd, the opportunities Santos saw for himself were two-fold: He gets to step in and participate in the first main event of his career, and he also receives a conduit into a division that he believes will afford him more opportunities: specifically a crack at the world championship ( Quotes Via Bloody Elbow):
“I think light heavyweight is easier in that aspect (of getting to a title shot),” Santos told Tatame. “Middleweight is just too competitive and convoluted. You can’t really understand it. Light heavyweight is a different thing. You got Daniel Cormier now, you’re waiting for Jon Jones to recover from all the shit he has done and get the belt back. That’s it. Not at middleweight. If you look at the Top 5, anybody could be a champion”
Santos also believes that entering the light heavyweight division will afford Santos a chance to earn his way to the top through merit, as opposed to the more political middleweight division:
“There are too many favored fighters at middleweight,” he continued. “Guys that the UFC want to make it to the top faster. That happens in every weight class, but it happens more at middleweight. There are guys like Chris Weidman, Israel Adesanya, Paulo Borrachinha…the UFC puts them on the fast track. That’s not news to anybody. It’s not that they aren’t talented. They are, they win fights, but they do get a shorter path in the division.”
With longtime light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira falling out of the Sao Paulo main event, Thiago Santos has been provided a fast track of his own, and he plans on running through both that track and #5 ranked Jimi Manuwa who stands in his way.
Do you think Thiago Santos has a point? Are there more politics in the middleweight division than the light heavyweight division?
