Thiago 'Marreta' Santos wants top-six middleweight after tying Anderson Silva's KO record

Thiago Santos has proven to be one of the great knockout threats in UFC history. His latest piece of work tied him with former champion Anderson Silva for the most finishes by strikes in the middleweight division.

Santos (17-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) pushed his winning streak to four at UFC Fight Night 125 when he stopped Anthony Smith (27-14 MMA, 4-3 UFC) by second-round TKO in their FS1-televised bout at Mangueirinho Gymnasium in Belem, Para, Brazil.

Now “Marreta” wants a top opponent.

The Brazilian hasn’t lost since a surprising upset defeat against Eric Spicely at UFC Fight Night 95 in September 2016. Prior to that, he succumbed to a TKO against Gegard Mousasi in a short-notice matchup at UFC 200.

Santos has rebounded from his skid in impressive fashion, stopping four opponents in a row. He said that should be enough to get a top-ranked opponent next.

“It’s my fourth consecutive win with a knockout,” Santos said in his post-fight statement. “I’m one of the fighters with more knockouts in my division. I deserve an opportunity. I had one with Mousasi, but with little time to be ready. I want a good name and that I can be ready for it. I would like one of the top-six: (Robert) Whittaker, (Luke) Rockhold, (Chris) Weidman – I accept any of these.”

Smith came into the fight with Santos on a three-fight winning streak of his own. After a back-and-forth opening round, Santos took control in the second. He hurt “Lionheart” badly with a kick and then finished the job with a flurry of punches.

According to Santos, the bout went exactly as he envisioned. Now he wants to see if he can do the same against the elite at 185 pounds.

“It was a war. I knew he was a very tough guy,” Santos said. “I did not expect anything different. But I said I was going to hurt him until he could not take it anymore, so I went there and did it.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 125, check out the UFC Events section of the site.