UFC 213: Santos is Back, And He’s Still A Knockout Machine — Replay

On Saturday, the UFC’s annual International Fight Week came to its conclusion with UFC 213.

Despite the main event between UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko being canceled just hours before the event, the UFC still hosted a full night of intriguing matchups.

Thiago Santos fought on the preliminary portion of the card as he fought middleweight prospect Gerald Meerschaert.

Meerschaert was the first to throw strikes in the fight. Santos went for a leg kick that allowed him to get taken down. However, Santos quickly got back to his feet. Meerschaert later landed another takedown, but he couldn’t keep Santos on the mat. Santos dropped his opponent with strikes. On the ground, Santos unloaded punches. Santos later let Meerschaert get to his feet. Santos continued to have success on his feet. However, Meerschaert opened a bad cut on the side of Santos’ head. In the final minute, Santos landed a head kick. Both fighters exchanged blows to finish the round.

Meerschaert landed a takedown right at the start of the second round, but Santos got right up. He went for another takedown but Santos stopped it with punches. Santos then secured top position. Santos continued to land hard shots on the ground. Meerschaert got back to his feet but kept getting beat down. Santos got the fight back to the ground and unloaded until the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.

Official Result:

Thiago Santos def. Gerald Meerschaert by TKO (Round 2)