Despite Winning TUF Brazil 2 at Welterweight, Leonardo Santos Considers Drop to 155 Pounds

Leonardo Santos became the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 2 in Fortaleza, Brazil, on Saturday night, by defeating a much bigger and younger William “Patolino” Macario. He hasn’t yet determined if he’ll remain at 170 pounds or drop to lightweight.

From the start of their fight, Patolino manhandled Santos, overpowering him throughout the first round.

He grew visibly tired as the second round got underway. Santos picked up on that and used his experience to outwit the tiring fighter, tripping him to the mat and submitting him.

The victory posed a quandary for Santos. He can obviously be successful at 170 pounds, and the prospect of not having to diet as hard as would be required to make 155 pounds is certainly appealing.

“That is a question that I am going to have to talk to my camp and to see what they find is the best for me,” said Santos. “I like this class because I don’t need to be hungry to get my weight. It was very easy to get my weight, but we need to think about my future, what is gonna be best.”

From his follow-up comments, it sounds as if Santos believes the better option is to dial in his diet and make the sacrifices required for a cut to 155 pounds. But he’s also willing to work with his employer.

“We need to talk to the UFC and see what is the best,” said Santos. “If they allow me to go down, I will probably go down. But if I’m gonna have to fight here, it’s just to eat a little bit more and go out to the fight.”