Free Fight! Santos And Anders Go To War In Brazil

Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will return to action this Saturday night (Nov. 7, 2020), as UFC Vegas 13 goes down inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. The ESPN+-streamed event will be headlined by a pivotal Light Heavyweight bout between Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira.

Before then, let’s take a look at one of Santos’ most dominate wins inside the Octagon. Back in 2018, “Marreta” decided to make the move up to the 205-pound division after spending the entirety of his career up to that point fighting as a Middleweight. His first fight in the division was against Eryk Anders, who was also participating in his first fight at Light Heavyweight.

The first round was more of a feeling out process, with both heavy-hitters looking for an open opportunity to land a finishing blow. In round two, however, the action got started with a quicker pace, as the two men swung haymakers at one another in the opening seconds. After a fairly even round, Santos picked up some momentum after clipping Anders with a solid kick to the body followed by hard left that had the former football star retreating. Once he regrouped, Anders was quick to fire back his own bombs, though nothing really connected.

Round three started off great for Anders, who scored a quick takedown and tried to work his submission game by attempting to execute a rear-naked choke. After working his way back to standing position, “Marreta” started to pile on the strikes, landing powerful kicks to the body while following it up with thunderous strikes to the head and face of Anders. The rest of the round saw Anders try to score more takedowns, but Santos punished him with non-stop strikes for his efforts.

Once the bell rang to signal the end of round three, Anders could barely walk on his won. After being helped by his corner, Anders collapse in the center of the cage, prompting Marc Goddard to put an end to the fight. Anders eventually went back down to Middleweight while Santos continued to chug along, eventually earning a title shot against Jon Jones, though he ultimately came up short, shredding his knee in the process.

Now, Santos will return for his first fight in nearly two years in an attempt to insert himself right back into another title shot if he can take out Teixeira. Unfortunately for both men — as well as the rest of the top contenders in the division — They will have to wait a while for their shot since Israel Adesanya will get first crack at trying to dethrone current champion, Jan Blachowicz, sometime in March.

To see the entire UFC Vegas 13 fight card click here.