Jon Jones may have won the battle, but Thiago Santos won the war.
Despite losing in a valiant effort Saturday night at UFC 239 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Thiago Santos fought most of his light heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones on one leg. As very few knew what Santos had been fighting with, all this time.
As it turns out, Thiago Santos had torn his ACL, MCL, PCL and Meniscus in his left knee during the fight. His manager Alex Davis confirmed it with ESPN. Brazilian Outlet Combat was the first to hear word about the injuries made to Santos’ left knee. As the former Ultimate Fighter contestant is expected to be out of action for the rest of 2019 and beyond.
If he couldn’t make matters worse, Santos is reportedly suffering from a tear in his right knee; Santos’ coach, Philip Limba, told ESPN Brazil.
In the end, Jon Jones retained his lightweight title by split decision Saturday night. However, Santos fought extremely well to the point, where many believe he was going to have his hand raised in the finish.
This was Jon Jones’ first fight in which he had gone to decision, and lost on one of the judge’s scorecards. As many speculated that Round 5 could have gone either way, with some favoring Santos.
Two judges actually had Santos winning the fourth round and one had him winning the fifth. As the Brazilian fighter had proven to give “Bones” the biggest challenge of his storied career.
“I left everything in there even after injuring my knee in the first round,” Santos stated at the UFC 239 post-fight media conference, through an interpreter.
“I fought four rounds on a southpaw stance, unable to move like I usually move, unable to throw the strikes I usually throw, and didn’t shock the world because of those circumstances, but I did what I could do in those conditions and I’m satisfied.”
When asked about Santos’ injuries, Jones said he was not aware of the situation and felt that Thiago had made him look “bad” during the duration of the bout with kicks to Jones’ calfs as a key technique.
“Boy, was he tough,” Jones stated after the fight. “We all knew Thiago’s best chance was to knock me out. I played it smart and brought home this gold for my family and team. He was technically a lot more sound than I thought. Thiago Santos is a black belt in Muay Thai. I’m proud of myself, because I stood with a guy who’s been kickboxing way longer than me.”
Thiago Santos (21-7) had won four straight fights coming into the highly anticipated contest, with the last three coming when the fighter made his way up to the middleweight division. In those three fights, Santos has won by TKO or knockout and at age 35, has proven to be a tough opponent in the octagon.
Despite the fact that it looks as if Santos may be gone for a while; he will not be gone forever. When Santos comes back, the rest of the lightweight division will be waiting.
