Thiago Santos gets quick turnaround, set to fight Aleksandar Rakic in March
Thiago Santos is turning around rather quickly after his third-round loss to Glover Teixeira.
According to a report from ESPN, Santos is set to take on Aleksandar Rakic on March 6. The UFC has not released where the event will take place or whether it is a pay-per-view or a Fight Night. But, according to the report, Santos vs. Rakic will not be the main event and it will be a three-round fight.
Santos, as mentioned, is coming off a submission loss to Glover Teixeira. In the fight, the Brazilain had moments rocking the Brazilian early in the first and dropping him to start the third. However, he came up short. It also was his return fight to the UFC after tearing both knees in his split decision loss to Jon Jones for the belt. Since moving up to light heavyweight, Thiago Santos is 3-2 with a notable win over current champion, Jan Blachowicz.
Aleksandar Rakic, meanwhile, returned to the win column with a decision win over Anthony Smith back in August. Before that, he suffered a controversial split decision loss to Volkan Oezdemir in a fight many pundits thought he won. The Austrian is 5-1 in the UFC with wins over Smith, Jimi Manuwa, Devin Clark, Justin Ledet, and Francimar Barroso.
Thiago Santos vs. Aleksandar Rakic is a big fight for the light heavyweight division. Both men are ranked in the top-five and whoever wins could very well enter a No. 1 contender bout against the winner of Dominick Reyes vs. Jiri Prochazka, especially if it is Rakic. However, with Israel Adesanya fighting Jan Blachowicz, and Glover Teixeira next in line after that, it has stalled things out at 205-pounds. But, it still remains a big fight for both men if they want to get a crack at UFC gold sometime in the near future.
