UFC 163's Thiago Santos hopes for hometown pop vs. fellow Brazilian Ferreira

When the UFC puts together Brazilian vs. Brazilian matchups, and has the two fight in their home country, it’s sometimes a crapshoot to see which fighter will get the most fan support.

For Thiago Santos (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), he’s hoping he’ll have the edge there against Cezar Ferreira (5-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC 163 pay-per-view.

UFC 163 takes place at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro with a main card, including Santos vs. Ferreira, on pay-per-view following FX and Facebook prelims.

For Santos, it’s a fight just about in his backyard. So despite making his official UFC debut after a stint on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil,” he hopes he’ll have the fans in his corner.

“I was born, raised and live in Rio de Janeiro,” Santos told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “That makes it all the more special, to debut here in Rio de Janeiro. It’s pretty much in my backyard. I live in Cidade de Deus, which is seven kilometers (4.4 miles) away from the HSBC Arena. Despite this being a matchup between two Brazilians, I hope to get the support of most of the local Rio crowd.”

Against “Mutante,” Santos gets a stiff challenge for his first UFC fight. Ferreira fought in the first finals of “TUF: Brazil” in 2012 and beat Sergio Moraes. But It’s been more than a year since Ferreira has fought after an injury in April knocked him out of a fight against Chris Camozzi, who was a replacement for C.B. Dollaway.

It’ll also be an interesting challenge for Santos since he’s a welterweight who just two weeks ago got the call that Clint Hester had been forced out of a fight against Ferreira, opening the door for him to make his UFC debut – at middleweight.

For Santos, it probably was a no-brainer decision.

“I’m going up specifically for this fight,” he said. “I want to take advantage of this opportunity, so I accepted the fight right away. Whether I remain at middleweight or go back to welterweight after this fight, I’ll have to sit down and talk about it with my trainers and my manager.”

Those are the kinds of conversations that seem to be on the regular for him. After taping for “TUF: Brazil 2? wrapped, manager Alex Davis asked Santos to stay patient rather than jumping into a quick fight for Brazil’s Watch Out Combat Show promotion.

“I was going to fight for the WOCS welterweight belt,” Santos said. “But my manager asked to hold off since we knew there were going to be at least three more UFC events in Brazil this year. I trusted in him and waited, even though I was itching to fight again. Thankfully everything worked out.”

Now the former soldier, who spent seven years as a paratrooper in Brazil’s army, just had to find a way to take advantage of everything working out on Saturday night. “Mutante” is a 4-to-1 favorite over the newcomer.

But considering both come from a capoeira background, Santos thinks no matter the outcome, fans could be in for a treat.

“I find it very interesting – he’s a tall guy, he kicks a lot, likes to fight standing up and he also comes from capoeira,” Santos said. “This has all the elements to be a great spectacle for the fans. I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting fight.”

As long as they’re backing their boy from Rio just a little more than his opponent from Sao Paulo.

For more on UFC 163, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.