Montreal — Featherweight Daniel Santos came away from UFC 315 in Montreal with a hard-fought decision win, and he didn’t shy away from adversity with his post-fight callout.
Speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press backstage at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Santos (12-2), fresh off his third straight win (and after fighting for the first time since 2023) took aim at Hawaiian Dan Ige.
“Shoot for the stars and you’ll get to the moon,” exclaimed Santos, speaking via translator. “So Dan Ige is a guy who I’ve been seeing him, I think he’s got this aura. I can see that he’s this guy that would really bring a good fight. I think a true warrior, a true Samurai needs to go out and fight another true Samurai. I see something in him that I think would be an amazing fight.”
Asked whether it was his experience — Ige has fought a who’s who of the division — fight style, or something else that inspired the callout, “Willycat” essentially chose all of the above.
“It’s everything combined. He’s a true warrior, he doesn’t run away from the fight,” he stated. “I believe that he would bring in a great fight. It’s everything that everyone wants to watch: a war, blood, everything. That’s the complete package.”
Earlier, Santos gave his favorite memory of UFC Hall of Famer and former featherweight champ Jose Aldo, fighting on the UFC 315 main card. His fellow Brazilian picked Aldo’s win over Chad Mendes, “when he ran into the crowd. It truly showed not only what a great champion and a great fighter he was, but he’s the people’s champ. He really is one of us. He really is one of us. Anyone coming into MMA, really, he’s a big inspiration. You have to look up to Aldo.”
Watch Daniel Santos’ full UFC 315 post-fight media appearance above.
