5 UFC fighters who moved up in weight and found success

#3 Thiago Santos

Thiago Santos moved up two weight classes to 205lbs - and almost upset Jon Jones

A number of fighters have seen success after moving from a lighter weight class to a heavier one, but few fighters have succeeded after moving up twice. One of those few is Brazil’s Thiago ‘Marreta’ Santos, who most recently fought Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight title – and came as close as anyone else has before to dethroning the dominant champion.

Santos actually emerged in the UFC at 170lbs during the second series of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. Always a big Welterweight, Santos defeated Gil Freitas and Pedro Irie during the reality show tapings, but lost handily to both William Macario and Leonardo Santos, and was seen by many fans as a poor man’s version of UFC contender Edson Barboza.

Following TUF it didn’t appear that Santos would be picked up by the UFC, but instead he stepped in on late notice to face Cezar Ferreira in a Middleweight fight at UFC 163. He was defeated in just 47 seconds, but followed that fight by showing a flash of his potential in a nasty win over Ronny Markes in his second Octagon appearance.

From there, Santos went onto claim 9 wins at Middleweight – going the distance just twice – but also lost 4 times, and it seemed that while he wouldn’t become a title contender, he’d be a staple in the UFC for years to come.

A surprising move to 205lbs came in late 2018 though, and from there ‘Marreta’ won three fights, including two over top contenders Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz, to claim his title shot against Jones. Not bad for a man expected to wash out of the UFC at 170lbs!