For Bellator 102's Thiago Santos, a win means money for new teeth

Bellator MMA heavyweight Thiago Santos is coming off his first loss in nearly three years.

For some fighters, it’s difficult to deal with a defeat, but in the case of Santos (11-2 MMA, 3-1 BMMA), the loss to Rich Hale this past November was the least of his concerns after having several of his teeth knocked out because of an illegal blow.

“I watched the [Rich] Hale fight after the fact, and I was able to figure out what happened,” Santos told MMAjunkie.com. “I was head-butted. It wasn’t a punch. I lost three teeth on top. I tried alerting the referee, and he didn’t pay me any mind.

“I’m not trying to justify a loss. The referee didn’t see the head-butt and neither did I when it happened. I just knew that there was no way I could have lost my teeth since he didn’t land any solid punches or kicks.”

Nearly one year after that fight, the Brazilian is ready to return to action against Javy Ayala (5-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) on the preliminary portion of Friday’s Bellator 102 event. The bout streams worldwide on Spike.com prior to the Spike TV main card.

Ayala makes his Bellator debut at the event and is eager to make an impact in the heavyweight division by taking out a former tournament finalist.

While Santos admits he doesn’t know much about his upcoming foe, he’ll give Ayala all the credit and respect he deserves once the cage door closes because a loss to an unheralded fighter would be a devastating blow to the 26-year-old’s career.

“I don’t know much about him, but at the same time, I won’t underestimate him,” Santos said. “I always face every opponent as if I’m fighting for a belt. I underestimate no one.”

With just one loss in five trips to the Bellator cage, Santos is one of the organization’s most experienced and successful heavyweights.

And while “Big Monster” still has his eyes on Bellator gold, his main focus is getting back on track after a disappointing defeat and earning enough money to replace the teeth Hale knocked out of him a year ago.

“I can’t afford to [fix my teeth], especially since I didn’t fight for almost a year already,” he said. “I don’t even have a denture. I’m not vain like that. Later we can worry about it.”

For more on Bellator 102, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.