UFC flyweight Taila Santos has a key fight with Erin Blanchfield at UFC Singapore this Saturday.
Santos (19-2) has not fought since a controversial loss to Valentina Shevchenko over a year ago, a split decision that for many showed the first sign of cracks in Shevchenko’s seemingly impregnable armour.
The Blanchfield match-up has Santos’ spirits high, it seems.
“I’m very excited about this, because a lot of people talk about, she’s an upcoming [prospect],” Santos said this week, speaking via translator at the UFC Singapore media day. “But if she’s a [prospect], I’m a reality.”
Against Blanchfield, Santos is paired with a surging talent many see as a future champ. That has the Brazilian looking for the next title shot herself.
“By winning this fight on Saturday, I would like to get the title shot and fight against the winner between Valentina [Shevchenko] and [Alexa] Grasso in Sao Paulo. It would be very interesting to meet up again with Valentina.”
As for who she would want to fight between the pair, Santos was clear that she had tried to make the Shevchenko rematch happen. But try as she might, the then-champ would not take the bait.
“After the fight against Valentina, I did reach out to her several times on social media, but she was running away. She didn’t answer me, she was busy fighting other opponents,” exclaimed Santos. “If it was up to me, I would have fought her again. But this time has given me some time to train again. If it was up to me I would have fought her again, but she was running away.”
Eventually, it was Mexcio’s Alexa Grasso who toppled the former flyweight queen. Grasso and Shevchenko fight in a rematch next month at Noche UFC. And Santos feels the blueprint she laid out helped facilitate the belt changing hands.
“I think Grasso, she studied my strategy that I used, and she found out [Shevchenko’s] weak points.”
Watch the full UFC Singapore media day appearance by Taila Santos above.
