Las Vegas — The Ultimate Fighter 32 winner Mairon Santos picked up his first win in the UFC proper at UFC 313 on Saturday, though the victory did not come without a bit of controversy.
Santos (15-1) claimed a split decision over Francis Marshall in the fight, with some (including the UFC’s broadcast team) suggesting the result should have gone the other day. Fans in the arena weren’t happy with the outcome either, and let Santos hear it after the bout.
“I know one day, everyone’s going to celebrate with me. I know I’m in the U.S., so I guess if you don’t win clean, like first round KO or something like that, they’re going to cheer for their guy, American guy,” Santos noted, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “But I’m happy with my performance. I know that I did everything that I could, and when we step in the cage it’s always 50-50. I’m happy that I showed that I have heart, that I can improve in the middle of the fight. So overall I’m happy with my performance.”
While two judges scored the fight for Brazil’s Santos, the third, dissenting judge awarded all three rounds to Marshall. The scoring took the TUF champ by surprise, though scores being all over the map in general do not.
“I was very surprised but judges, they always do that. I don’t know how those guys were able to be in that place to judge a fight,” exclaimed Santos. “Because, let me land like two calf kicks and one jab, and they you take me down for 30 seconds and hug me, and let’s see the difference.”
“They [the judges] don’t know sh*t, I won the fight. And yeah, we never know. Someone gave those guys power, and they always do things like that.”
Coming out of UFC 313 relatively unscathed, Mairon Santos would like to get back by the middle of the year. After all, he has bills to pay, especially with his young son burning through diapers at an impressive rate.
“I would like to get back to the cage middle of the year. I just need some time to rest, heal the soreness of my body. From what I see right now, I don’t have any major injuries, nothing crazy, I’m just sore from the fight.” And so middle of the year “would be good,” Santos continued. “Need to make some money. My son is giving a lot of work, it’s more than 10 diapers per day, so I need to make money.”
Watch the full UFC 313 post-fight press conference with Mairon Santos above.
