Thiago Santos explains why he signed with PFL: ‘I won’t be a hypocrite, of course that I want the $1 million’
Thiago Santos has opened up on why he decided to sign with the PFL.
Santos recently agreed to part ways with the UFC and quickly signed with the PFL which was a surprise as he still had fights left on his UFC deal. Yet, he thought the time was now to try something new, while the $1 million prize is also intriguing for the Brazilian.
“It was also the right moment, at this stage of my career, to try something different,” Santos said on an episode of MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca. “I won’t be a hypocrite, of course that I want the $1 million [prize]. Of course I want money to make my nest egg. I don’t want to wait until it’s too late [in my career], like almost retiring, to fight one last fight and try a lot of money. No, I really want to fight. I know I still can do great things in MMA, I still have a few more years of fighting. The moment had to be now. New opportunities, better purse. Everything made me opt for the change.”
Thiago Santos also reveals the money he can make this year in PFL – if he wins the $1 million – it will be more than he made in his entire UFC career. The Brazilian is just 1-5 in his last six and coming off back-to-back main event losses to Jamahal Hill and Magomed Ankalaev.
During his UFC career, he holds notable wins over Jan Blachowicz, Johnny Walker, and Jack Hermansson among others and for Santos, he says he has no regrets about his UFC run but is looking forward to the PFL.
“I still had one more fight [in my contract] but my manager Alex [Davis] was already in conversations with the PFL for a while,” Santos said. “They had reached out asking how many fights I had left and when my contract would end, and they came with an offer. My manager asked me if he could advance the talks, I talked to my wife and we decided to continue [the discussion with PFL]. He spoke with the UFC and the UFC was very kind and correct with us, we dealt everything in a friendly manner and got the release.”
