UFC on FUEL TV 10's William Macario knows both he and Leonardo Santos belong

FORTALEZA, Brazil – After downing four different opponents, there is no doubt that William Macario (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) deserves to be in the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2.” But does Leonardo Santos (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC)? 

“Patolino” says there is no doubt.

“I definitely think so,” Macario told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) through an interpreter. “I think he definitely deserves to be on the finale because he had a great fight with Santiago Ponzinibbio. It was a fight that could have been for either one of them.”

That fight took place in the semifinal round of “TUF: Brazil 2,” with Ponzinibbio earning a hard-fought unanimous decision. However, he injured his hand in the contest and was unable to recover in time for the tournament final, which takes place Saturday at UFC on FUEL TV 10 at Paulo Sarasate Arena in Fortaleza, Brazil.

That allowed Santos to step back in the tournament as a replacement finalist, and he now meets Macario in the final round. 

Meanwhile, Macario earned three stoppage wins during his four “TUF: Brazil” victories. Add in a perfect career mark of 6-0, and Macario seems to be the one with all the momentum. That said, the 21-year-old Brazilian isn’t willing to rest on those laurels.

“Undoubtedly, [Santos] does deserve to be here,” Macario said. “I don’t feel I’m better than him. I didn’t lose any fights, but I think we’re both at the same level. We’re going to go in there on Saturday, the cage door will close, and it’s going to be a tough situation.”

Further complicating matters, the two both fought on Team Nogueira during “TUF: Brazil 2,” so each one is familiar with the other man’s game. Macario said that doesn’t concern him one bit.

“In reality, he’s seen my fights on ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’” Macario said. “He’s seen what I do, so he knows I’m a fighter that plays wherever I need to be. If I need to be striking, I’ll strike. If I need to go to the floor, I’ll go to the floor. If I need to bring him down, I’ll take him down and ground and pound – whatever I need to do.”

Of course, Santos has no real secrets, anyway. At 33, the longtime member of Nova Uniao is highly respected as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu wizard, and his game has always been about scoring submissions. Macario said he feels confident he can match Santos in the grappling game but realizes there’s absolutely no reason to engage an expert in their strongest department.

“I know he’s a great jiu-jitsu player, but I’m not going in to do jiu-jitsu,” Santos said. “This is MMA. I’m going out there to fight MMA, so whatever I need to do, I’ll do it.”

The victor of Saturday’s co-feature will join Season 1 champs Rony Jason and Cezar Ferreira as the lone winners of the Brazilian “TUF” series to date. That still leaves room to grow on the international scene, and large portions of fight fans watching UFC on FUEL TV 10 may very well be seeing both Macario and Santos for the very first time.

That’s just fine for Macario, who sad he plans on making an immediate impression.

“What I can promise is they’re going to see a great fight on Saturday night,” Macario said. “I hope everyone will be paying attention because this is going to be the fight. 

“I’ve come out of ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and this was a very important victory, but now there’s one more fight, and I’m going to close it with a cherry on top. What I can promise the crowd is that this is going to be a very good fight.”

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