WITCHITA, Kan. – UFC welterweight Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos plans to talk to promotion matchmakers so he can return to the octagon soon.
After stopping top prospect Curtis Millender (17-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in under three minutes, Santos (21-5 MMA, 7-1 UFC) wants to fight in May at UFC 237 against a top-five ranked opponent.
“The big thing is I already asked for opponents before, and never got them,” Santos told MMA Junkie after his win in the co-headliner of UFC on ESPN+ 4, which took place at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan., and streamed on ESPN+. “Give me a top-five opponent and let me rise up the ranks. That’s all I ask.
“Rio is right around the corner. I didn’t get hurt. Let me fight in Rio against someone who’s ranked.”
Santos, who picked up his seventh straight win, didn’t intend to make Saturday’s appearance so short. He trained for a long and hard fight against Millender, who’s knocked out three of his past five opponents.
The original plan changed, however, when the action got rolling in the octagon.
“He just came in a little bit too close too early, and it just made my job a little easier,” Santos said. “I came here to put on a ‘Fight of the Night’ performance, but this is MMA. The opportunity showed up, and I took it.”
The stage now appears set for Santos to make a run at the title this year. While it’s not up to him whether or not he gets the fights that will take his career to the next level, he believes he’s done more than enough.
Other contenders may talk more or adopt a more outlandish personality. Santos’ play is to show up and keep asking for what he wants until he gets it.
“In the end, the work that I need to do is in the octagon,” he said. “The rest is just extra. If I have a little bit extra to do, I don’t mind. But the biggest thing is making sure I go in there, do my job, get the finish, and get my hand raised.”
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