That light heavyweight title shot is currently Anthony Smith’s, who Santos actually defeated by TKO just over a year ago. Smith moved from middleweight up to light heavyweight after his loss to Santos, prompting him to win three-straight on the path to fighting Jon Jones. The idea to jump up to light heavyweight was an idea that Santos had pondered for a while and after UFC 227 he knew it was time.
It’s safe to say the decision has paid dividends.
After his fight with Blachowicz he will turn his attention to the winner of that UFC 235 title fight. But until then his undivided attention is on his worthy UFC Prague opponent.
“My total focus is on Saturday,” Santos said. “I have a very tough opponent ahead of me, and I have to be focused on him, only thinking about him. After the fight, when I am out of the octagon, I will turn my eyes to UFC 235.”
That focus and confidence is what has led Santos to earn 14 of his 20 career victories by knockout or TKO. His aggressiveness and power is something that he has learned to harness. It’s also what he expects to be the difference in his fight with Blachowicz. When asked how he sees himself winning on Saturday the answer was as simple as possible.
“By knockout,” Santos said with unwavering confidence.
Tune into the UFC Prague main card at 2pm/11am ETPT on ESPN+ to see if Santos can continue his winning ways. Also make sure to watch the UFC Prague prelims live on ESPN2 at 11am/8am ETPT.
Gavin Porter is a digital producer and writer for UFC.com, follow him on Twitter at @PorterUFCNews.
