Report: Thiago Santos Steps In To Face Jimi Manuwa At UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo
Jimi Manuwa was left without an opponent after Glover Teixeira pulled out of the UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo main event due to a shoulder injury, but now a report from ESPN is saying that Thiago Santos has agreed to take the short notice opportunity.
Manuwa (17-4-0) is going to be entering the contest in the midst of a two fight losing streak, dropping fights to the duo of Volkan Oezdemir and Jan Blachowicz. Manuwa hasn’t won a bout in well over a year, with that last victory coming over Corey Anderson at UFC Fight Night 107. Manuwa has previously headlined two cards in the UFC, winning at the aforementioned UFC Fight Night 107 card and losing at UFC Fight Night 37.
Santos (18-6-0) is going to be making his UFC Light Heavyweight Division debut in this bout, having previously competed at middleweight. Santos is also going to be headlining his first UFC card, having been with the promotion for over five years now. Santos earned a 10-5-0 record while competing in the UFC Middleweight Division, with his last win coming over Kevin Holland at UFC 227.
UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo takes place on Saturday, September 22 from the Ibirapueroa Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil with Jimi Manuwa and Thiago Santos headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.
