Thiago Santos successfully makes weight for UFC Vegas 13 fight with Glover Teixeira
Thiago Santos successfully weighed in at 205.5 pounds on Friday ahead of his UFC Vegas bout with Glover Teixeira.
The two will fight it out in the main event at UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
His opponent, Glover Teixeira, also weighed in successfully at 205.5 pounds. Both of them were within the 206-pound non-title limit of the division.
Third time is the charm for Thiago Santos vs. Glover Teixeira
Fights between Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira has been cancelled twice in the recent past, mostly because of the pandemic. The bout was initially set for September 12, but Glover Teixeira tested positive for COVID-19 and had to pull out of the scheduled fight.
Then, unfortunately, Santos suffered the same misfortune, contracting COVID-19 when UFC booked the fight for a second time for October 13. The bout is finally down to happen on November 7.
Santos has not fought since his July 2019 loss to the then-light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 239. The Brazilian injured both of his knees during the fight, but still managed to come as close as anyone has to beating 'Bones' inside the Octagon.
The result went in Jones' favor in a hairline split decision call, but many people consider it to be an unofficial victory for Santos.
Teixeira has been more active than his opponent, having beaten Anthony Smith in May this year via a fifth-round knockout. He is coming into tomorrow's fight with four consecutive wins under his belt, three of them by finish.
The light heavyweight title picture
It is likely that the winner of this fight will earn a shot at the light heavyweight title, currently held by Jan Blachowicz. The title picture of the 205-pound division is slightly blurry right now, given how Israel Adesanya is supposed to move up and challenge Blachowicz for the belt.
Blachowicz has said that he is not fighting until March at the earliest, which should give UFC enough time to decide which way they want to go. Every other fighter on the 11-bout card for UFC Vegas 13 successfully made weight.
The co-main event fighters, Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser, also made weight on Friday. The Heavyweight contenders hit the scale at 244.5 pounds and 232.5 pounds respectively.
Former Champion Arlovski is coming off a win in his last fight, but he has won only two of his last seven outings. Boser on the other hand is coming off with two back-to-back victories by knockout.