Thiago “Marreta” Santos came closer than anyone has to dethroning the greatest light heavyweight in history, and no one really cares.
MMA is an odd sport. It is unforgiving, complicated, and brutal, and upsets are common. Mostly, though, they tend to come from young fighters and unknown quantities.
Thiago “Marreta” Santos is not young, and he is not an unknown quantity; he’s a big Brazilian banger, as quiet outside the cage as he is violent inside it, with powerful kicks, loopy punches, and a noted tendency to self-destruct in pressure situations. He’s four years older than the unbeatable champion Jon Jones, and carries a resume littered with bad, weird losses.