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#4 Thiago Santos
The Brazilian Light Heavyweight powerhouse Thiago "Marreta" Santos takes the No. 4 spot on our list of top 10 UFC fighters of 2018.
Santos has put the light heavyweight division and the entire UFC on red alert with his unreal performances and devastating knockouts this year.
Marreta has racked up an impressive four wins in 2018 with losing only one. He has also finished three out of those four wins and every knockout has been scarier than the previous one.
Originally competing at Middleweight, Santos has recently moved up to 205 lbs recently and has looked even more dominant with the transition.
Santos has had only two fights at Light Heavyweight and is already ranked No. 7 in the division, which is a testament to the quality of those two performances.
He began the year with beating and finishing fellow knockout artist Anthony Smith at Middleweight back in February.
Santos then went on to get a taste of his own medicine when he fought top-10 Middleweight David Branch in April where he was knocked out in the very first round.
Following that loss, Marreta turned his game around to first beat Kevin Holland on points and then moving up to Light Heavyweight.
Santos' first challenge at 205 lbs came in the form of heavy hitter Eryc Anders as the two headlined the UFC Fight Night 137: Sao Paolo in September.
He came out on top and battered Anders badly enough for the doctors to call a stop to the fight at the end of the third round.
Thiago Santos' major step up challenge came when he faced the English knockout phenom, Jimi Manuwa at UFC 231. The two big men delivered a barn burner of a fight but Santos was the man that night as he viciously knocked Manuwa out in the 2nd round.
Santos has gone from being unranked at Middleweight to being ranked at No. 7 in this year itself. He has also become one of the biggest stars in Brazil following his recent dominant performances and has become a major face for UFC in Latin America.
His nickname "Marreta" literally translates to "Sledgehammer" which is a very apt description of the style of combat this man brings inside the cage.
Santos is a fighter who is on the rise and likes to fight often which is a good mix for the fans because we can see him fight the very best at 205 lbs very soon and possibly a title shot come year end.
