Coach John Mike Winkeljohn: “The scariest Part About Thiago Santos Are Those Punches Coming At Total Full Velocity.”
Last month ESPN confirmed that current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones would defend his title against Brazilian Thiago Santos in the main headliner of UFC 239 Pay-Per-View event on July 6th from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Last week the betting odds for this showdown was released, and Jones is favorite to win as ‘Bones’ opens as -850 while Thiago’s betting odds came in at +625.
Jones is coming off a decision win over Anthony Smith in the main headliner of UFC 235 last month. Before that victory, Jon captures a vacated title after beating his formal rival Alexander Gustafsson last December. ‘Bones’ is 26-1 overall with ten knockout wins, despite that Jon’s coach is not taking Thiago Santos fighting skills easy. (h/t MMAMania)
“I think it’s his explosiveness, along with the fact that he’s young and he’s going in there with really nothing to lose,” coach Mike Winkeljohn told Submission Radio. “And that’s the scariest part about it. That means those shots, those counters, those punches are coming at total full velocity because he’s got nothing to lose. He’s just going to throw the kitchen sink at Jon, and that’s scary sometimes when people just let go. It’s not so calculated where you go, okay, I know how he does this. Sometimes they come up with something new as a part of their camp and they can catch anybody.”
Of course, Santos would not be an easy opponent as he is currently riding on a four-fight winning streak and most recently pulled a win against the higher-ranked Jan Blachowicz at UFC Prague. That win earned him a performance of the night award. Thiago is 27-6 overall with 15 knockout wins, so he definitely is the biggest challenge to Jones.
In the past, Jon has overcome such ninja powers; only time will tell if ‘Bones’ would pass through Santos successfully or not.
