LAS VEGAS – Thiago Santos expects to deliver a performance that’s a better reflection of himself against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 259 . On the heels of his split-decision loss to Jon Jones in July 2019, Santos (21-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC) took 16 months away from the octagon to recover from a double knee surgery. He finally returned in November for a clash with Glover Teixeira, but he was finished by submission . Now that he’s even further removed from his surgeries, Santos said he feels back in top form. He called the loss to Teixeira his “warm up,” and expects to show his full potential against Rakic (13-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Saturday. “When I look at my last fight, I was ready, but I felt after a long time stopped (from fighting), my timing was off because it was a long time,” Santos told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC 259 media day on Wednesday.
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Thiago Santos: ‘I need a good performance’ at UFC 259 to be considered for title – MMA Junkie