Jul 6, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Jon Jones (red gloves) fights against Thiago Santos (blue gloves) at T-Mobile Arena. Photo Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Thiago Santos Says Jon Jones Rematch Would Be A ‘Dream’
Thiago Santos is eyeing a rematch with Jon Jones in the future.
Santos took Jones the distance and became the first fighter to take a scorecard over “Bones.” It wasn’t enough, however, as Jones earned the split decision victory to successfully defend the UFC light heavyweight title. Thiago Santos will be out until mid-2020 as he tore ligaments in his left knee.
Speaking to Combate, Santos said he hopes to have a rematch with Jones someday (via BJPenn.com):
“Surely a rematch with him is a dream,” Santos said. “I want to recover from my knee and I sure want to fight him 100 percent, to see how it will be with me being 100 percent, playing my game, doing what we trained. There’s definitely going to be another fight.”
“I do not know if I shocked the world, but I think I could leave a message, which is what I like to leave, to pass on, I think the most important thing is the legacy we leave,” Santos said. “I think in this fight I left a lot of people happy, I spent a lot of this fight overcoming the difficulties. I think I was having a hard time at the beginning of the fight and a lot of people would have stopped there, so at least a good message, overcoming, resisting, you keep trying, not giving up, I think that message I was able to pass to people.”
For now, Santos will have to focus on a successful recovery. “Marreta” showed signs of knee damage off a checked kick in the opening round against Jones, but he didn’t stop going on the offensive.
