Santiago still reigns supreme; looks up for next matches
The Brazilian Jorge Santiago still reigns supreme, and for the second straight time, he successfully defends his middleweight title.
Courtesy of the World Victory Road promotion, the Sengoku 14 last Aug 22 was another precious event for the Rio de Janeiro native Santiago – winning against his Japanese rival Kazuo Misaki.
“I expected to fight this way with him. He always fights like this. He is great fighter. He is the best Japanese fighter that I have ever fought. I prepared for this fight so much. He needed to make me stop. If he didn't make me stop I was going to come back because I have the heart to fight until the end,” Santiago proudly said of his victory.
It was a hard-fought bout for the two middleweights, alternating between some ground and stand-up actions. Both men showcased good performance during the fight, but not until the final moments of the match. Santiago proved that he’s more aggressive, delivering vicious shots to Misaki. These punishments had been enough for Misaki, and thus, his corner decided to stop the fight to save his life.
It can never be said that it was a disappointing loss, as Misaki obviously did everything that he could to possibly rob the title from Santiago.
Meanwhile, the reigning champ commended his opponent for putting up a great fight.
“I know what kind of fighter he is. I know I had to really make sure that he was going to stop like last time when I choked him out. Even if I had a choke on him he wasn't going to tap out. That's the same as me,” explained Santiago.
"He got a good choke on me, but I didn't tap. The champion needs to have a fight like this. He has to prove himself until the time stops or the referee says stop,” he added.
Santiago was talking about the submission choke that Misaki utilized during round two, but he was able to escape from that choke afterwards.
It was the second time that the two have squared off. The first time was a non-title match, wherein Santiago was able to make Misaki tap out. Misaki tried to do the same this time, but he was unsuccessful though.
“To be honest with you guys, I always thought I was behind,” said the champ.
“My corner did a good job, they were always telling me I was behind and, 'You have to win this round no matter what!' I always had it in my mind that I had to finish the fight,” bragged Santiago.
The ‘corner’ that Santiago had been pertaining to was the American Top Team.
Known to be one of the most dominating team in the world of MMA, the American Top Team holds prominent cage fighters including Thiago Silva, Wilson Gouveia, Din Thomas, Jeff Monson, Mike Thomas Brown and Dennis Kang. Now, Santiago is another great addition for American Top Team’s roster of well-decorated fighters.
“I worked so hard to get this belt, I fought a tournament, I fought so many guys to be here. It's not easy to take [the belt] away from me. If somebody wants to come and fight to get this [belt], for sure they are going to go through the h**l that you saw tonight," Santiago talked about his future challenges.
Holding a new record of 23-8, Santiago is on a winning streak of his own. Known to be a Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing expert, most of his wins are via submissions and TKOs.
“I hope I come back here to defend my title again. I hope they find some new talent or the best Japanese here. That's who I like to fight, the best Japanese middleweights. They have a lot of good Japanese middleweights here, bring them here so I can fight.”
So, whatever the promotion has to offer Santiago, he’s surely up for the next challenge.
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