UFC Fight Night 29's Iliarde Santos believes new comfort gives him edge

Iliarde Santos is backed into a corner, but he’s prepared to fight his way out of it.

Santos (27-8-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) has lost both of his fights in the UFC, and on Wednesday at UFC Fight Night 29, he meets Chris Cariaso (14-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who is on a slump of his own. It may wind up being a loser-goes-home fight.

UFC Fight Night 29 takes place at Jose Correa Arena in Barueri, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following prelims, including Santos-Cariaso, on the same channel.

“We learn a lot from our losses,” Santos told MMAjunkie.com. “We can then learn to correct our mistakes. Losses are a consequence of fighting. We must always learn. That’s why I never stop training to overcome my shortcomings and opponents.”

Santos in May lost his UFC debut with a first-round TKO loss to Yuri Alcantara in Brazil. It was a bantamweight bout, and as recently as 2010, Alcantara was fighting at 170 pounds. He dropped to featherweight for his UFC debut in 2011.

But it wasn’t just Alcantara’s potential size advantage once they stepped in the cage that Santos said worked against him in his first UFC fight. Those famed octagon jitters got to him, as well.

“During my first fight, I was stiff because I was overwhelmed by the event,” Santos said. “I was facing Yuri and, it could have been anyone else – I just locked up. The UFC is a goal I always tried to reach my entire life. … I felt the weight of being in such a big event. I was starry-eyed. That wasn’t the case in the second fight.”

It may not have been the case, but the result for Santos still was a check in the loss column for him. Against Ian McCall in August in Rio de Janeiro, he dropped to flyweight for the first time – and dropped a unanimous decision.

On the plus side, the pair picked up “Fight of the Night” honors for their performance, and that may have bought Santos a little extra time to try to prove he belongs in the UFC.

“Winning the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus was very gratifying because it told me that my training, my hard work was starting to pay off,” he said. “And thankfully, they gave me another chance to fight again. I am very thankful to the UFC.”

Now Santos believes he’s more fully adapted to his new weight class, as well as the bright lights of the promotion he’s fighting for.

He’s hopeful that makes the difference against Cariaso, who he classifies as a well-rounded fighter – but one he knows he’s going to need a win over to stick around.

“This time around, I certainly feel at home,” he said. “I’m comfortable and focused. I’m giving everything I have in this fight. … I know that now against Chris Cariaso, we’re both comfortable in the organization, yet very hungry to win. Whoever wants it more and trained more will win. This victory will mean a lot to me since I’ve been looking for it for a very long time now.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 29, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.