Daniel Santos raises a glass to Ian Machado Garry's cornerwork after UFC 315 win
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Daniel Santos credits Ian Garry after win, wants Dan Ige next
UFC 315 winner Daniel Santos spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters post-fight after his unanimous decision victory over Jeong Yeong Lee in Montreal.
MONTREAL – Daniel Santos met the media Saturday after his win over Jeong Yeong Lee at UFC 315.
Santos (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who was fighting for the first time in nearly two years after a series of health-related cancellations, swept the scorecards on Lee (11-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) for his third straight win.
Afterward, he said having UFC welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry in his corner played a difference in the fight.
"Ian's energy, his intelligence, his fight IQ – we sat down and watched my opponent's fights for five minutes and he literally mapped everything out," Santos said at his post-fight news conference. "I owe a lot of this victory to him – and the entire team. But man – (Garry) is something else."
Garry was in Montreal as a backup fighter for the welterweight title fight in the main event.
Check out Santos' post-fight news conference in the video above.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Carlos Prates hasn't quit smoking, but says it won't stop him from being the first to KO Geoff Neal in the UFC
Carlos Prates is one of the more unique characters on the Fighting Nerds' team, which says a lot. The Brazilian welterweight contender has been a thrilling finisher throughout his UFC run, but was met with some resistance in his latest Octagon appearance. He'll get a chance to right the ship when he meets Geoff Neal in Chicago at UFC 319 on Saturday. The unanimous decision loss to Ian Machado Garry in UFC Kansas City's main event forced Prates to reevaluate his approach to fights, and maybe more so, how he executes his game plans. It was his first time going beyond the third round in his 28-fight career, and despite his questionable, but admitted love of smoking cigarettes, Prates didn't feel overly slowed or tired by the 25-minute mark. Regardless, don't expect the Fighting Nerds slugger to break his habit, as he still smokes roughly eight cigarettes daily. "Sometimes I start to smoke a little bit less, but it's hard," Prates said Monday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I get really excited, and I want to eat. I cannot eat pizza all day, so I prefer to smoke rather than have some problem with making weight. "I like to smoke before I go to the stadium. We cannot smoke in the locker room. Smoke before, then I go there." Prates can be commended for attempting to live a healthier lifestyle, but the cigarettes have yet to affect his performances. From an in-fight perspective, Prates believes that his recent lessons taught him to adapt and shift his speed. If he wants to be a champion, that might mean toning down his violent intentions. "The way I think to win the fight [might change]," Prates said. "On the level we are right now, the really high level, some small mistakes make a difference at the end of the fight. So it's time to sometimes think less about entertaining and more about winning. Not go for knockouts, you know what I mean? It's not only about bonuses. I want to finish the fight the way it's going to bring me a bonus. First, a win bonus is really nice. Getting the win is most important. I think it's changed a little bit in my mind." Prates' improvements will be tested by his next opponent Neal. Initially, the matchup was supposed to come at UFC 314 in April. Unfortunately for Neal, he was forced out of the bout for undisclosed reasons, which bumped Prates into his headliner opposite Garry at UFC Kansas City. Prates will have his hands full with his fellow striker in Neal. "Hands of Stone" has given some of the division's best all they can handle while staying relevant in his own right. Although Neal lives up to his moniker, he's also a durable foe with no knockout losses in the UFC. For Prates, Neal's history of avoiding knockouts adds a little extra motivation. "I'm really good at knocking people out who have never been knocked out before," Prates said. "I won the belt off the biggest show in Brazil, and I knocked out the guy. He was southpaw, so I'm really good fighting against southpaws, and he was never knocked out, and I was the first to knock him out. When I fought Li Jingliang, he was never knocked out in his career, not only UFC. I was the first one. Saturday night, I'm going to be the first one to knock Geoff Neal out for the first time in the UFC. "Nothing personal against him, it's just because it's the way I like to fight. I'm a striker and I like to knock people out. ... I know how to do that, that's my best."
USA Today
18 minutes ago
- USA Today
Hell of a Journey: How Jimmy Drago escaped death, found ironclad endurance for UFC look
Ask Jimmy Drago and he'll tell you. "It's been a hell of a journey." Drago (7-2) earned his shot to fight for a UFC contract Tuesday on Dana White's Contender Series through his hard work in the gym, crafting his face-punching and grappling. His story is simply a compliment to his grind, but one he thinks could make a positive difference. It's not easy for Drago. It's somewhat uncomfortable. But he's made the choice to tell it, not for himself. But for others. Every professional athlete has a story about the journey that got them to the top. Exceptional humans often have most unique roads, but Drago's is next level. The route detoured through rock bottom and death – eight times to be exact. Drago remembers drinking and smoking weed as a teenager. It was fun, but it was innocent. That's until it wasn't. At 15, Drago suffered monumental loss, the death of his father. One of the foundations of his life was gone. His structure took a blow. "My mother did the absolute best she could to provide for the three kids she was raising on her own," Drago recently told MMA Junkie. "She worked two jobs to put food on the table. One of the jobs had benefits. She's the real all-star here. Smoking weed turned to pills and pills turned to powder and powder turned to other pills and those other pills turned into other powder. It was just a different generation. The opiates took over." Drago overdosed time and time again. He tried rehab without luck. His support system of family and friends was strong, but over time, it grew more weathered. Drago can't wrap his head around how inconsequential life felt. His body craved different priorities. "One term that sat well with me is called the gift of desperation," Drago recently told MMA Junkie. "Dying never really phased me. Dying was easy. That's the saddest part about it is that you don't even really know you're gone. You just kind of wake up. What happened? You overdosed. It wasn't dying. It wasn't the car crashes. It wasn't the fight or violence. It was the consistent look of disappointment in everybody's face when they looked at me. That soul-stabbing feeling that I want to kill myself, but I'm too much of a p*ssy to do it." Drug addiction does not discriminate. Rich or poor. Male or female. White, black, brown, or any complexion. Drago had this truth firmly instilled in him first-hand – but also second-hand, with the death of his father. "They always say whatever you put in front of your sobriety, you'll end up losing," Drago said. "I've seen it. I've seen it. People who are sober 20 or 30 years go back and not come back. My father was the strongest, greatest man I ever met. He had 21 years sober. He went out and he did not come back. Eleven months is all it took and he was deceased. You have to learn from your mistakes. If you're wise, you have to learn from other people's mistakes. Eventually in this disease, everybody's ticket gets punched. So for me, it was either watch life go by or get into the game of life. I was tired of just existing. It was time to get into the game of life.' Enough is finally enough Everyone around a drug-addicted person can want them to change. But until they want to do it themselves, the task is beyond difficult. Drago's epiphany came after his final overdose. It's a memory he's played repeatedly over in his mind as he's pursued professional ventures. "My last day, I looked at my brother, who I pretty much helped raise," Drago said. "You know how many times I said, 'I'm sorry,' to him? I was just a mess that day. He kind of just shook his head at me and moved on. My mother wouldn't even let me drive home from this place we were at. I was just causing an absolute disaster by myself. I'm just in the shower in the fetal position, with tears coming down my face. I was like, 'I can't do this no more. I can't do this no more.'" Drago kicked and writhed in his bed for four days. It was off to rehab – again. But this time? This time it worked. "They say when the student's ready, the teacher appears," Drago said. "My ass got burned. My ass got burned. I was in a lot of pain. My poor family was watching me deteriorate. It was either now or never for me. I chose now.' When it was time for Drago to reenter the real world, he wasn't out of hell yet. He had no education. No job. No money. He was unsure of where to turn to. It was Hell. "I can tell you exactly what Hell was like, just like it was yesterday," Drago said. "I remember sitting on that couch. I can't even lift my eyes up, getting ready to throw up, not knowing what to do with myself. Everyone is trying to figure out what college they want to go to. I'm trying to figure out if rehab is going to take insurance from me. Father deceased. Mother working two jobs. No friends. I remember it like it was yesterday. Just that darkness in the soul." That's when fighting and the Local 40 Ironworkers union in New York entered his life – and there was light. A foundation rebuilt Structure wasn't just what Drago was helping build through his day job. It was what was being added back into his being, injected into his mind, body and soul. "(Iron working) has just been an absolute blessing in my life," Drago said. "I didn't want to let go of fighting. But I also really loved ironworking. It's not a question of how are you able to ironwork and fight. The real question is, 'How bad do you want to do this?' It doesn't matter what the situation or circumstances may be. I'm a firm believer and I've always told people, 'If you put your mind to something, you can do it – anything.' In that sense, did it save my life? I don't know if it saved me life. Maybe I would've found something else. But I think that nothing in God's world happens by mistake. It gave me something to work toward. By working toward it, it gave me a life beyond my wildest dreams.' Don't get it twisted. His days weren't sunshine and rainbows. It would be the intensest of grinds for even the most straight-edge person, never mind someone in the early stages of recovery. Every day, Drago would wake up at 7 a.m. and sometimes work until 5 p.m., before a conditioning workout and a sparring session. "I remember talking to people like, 'Bro, you have no idea the isolation I go through.' It was a rough period of time," Drago said. "But there was no wife back then. There was no house. I was still an amateur. It was kind of wild, just going through all those motions. ... It was like seven years in the fight career and kept doing what that guy was doing day-in and day-out for years, still doing the fight camps. I stared death in the face every day, man. This is not some local construction job. Local 40 is the apex predator of construction." For the past year and a half, Drago has stepped away from being an active member of the union – but only temporarily. He'll be back. He's just pursuing this MMA thing in the meantime. The next episode Tuesday's episode will represent a lot of things for Drago. It'll show what hard work makes possible. "Before I walk into that cage and before those doors open, I ask myself a simple question: 'Did I do everything I could to prepare for this fight?' The answer is yes," Drago said. "What's meant to happen happens after that.' A win will further serve as validation for all of the important people in his life who helped support him during his darkest times and provided structure to the light. His mother. His wife. His family and friends. LAW MMA. Local 40 Ironworkers. The list goes on. But perhaps the most powerful and important presence Drago will feel in the UFC Apex will be a spirit. Someone unable to physically be in attendance, but who will have more of an impact on his performance than anyone else. 'If my father was here, which is one of the biggest… I wouldn't say letdowns… but something I missed out on," Drago said. "If he was here just to see this opportunity, he would be the most ecstatic human being that you can meet. He was the UFC before the UFC was a thought. He was just a tough street guy. He'd give the shirt off his back to anybody. We have very similar stories. I dream of just f*cking putting this kid out and looking into the camera, like, 'Dad, we did it.'" "That's what I see earning the UFC contract is to me, is that's 'Look how far you come.' You want to talk about beating the f*cking odds? I beat the f*cking odds," Drago said. "It's just another moment in the journey I get to look back on. I truly believe my father is with me – win, lose, fail, no matter what. I truly believe I'm in the care of him, no matter what. But to win that contract and look back at this journey, it would mean everything to me, honestly.'
Forbes
26 minutes ago
- Forbes
Dana White's Contender Series - Season 9, Week 1 Results
The ninth season of Dana White's Contender Series begins tonight, Tuesday, August 12, from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. This season, Season 9 of the DWCS fight cards runs for 10 weeks. The fighters are competing to earn a UFC contract. Five fights are scheduled for this week's event in three different weight divisions. We will have live results, reactions, video highlights, and a list of UFC contract winners as the DWCS fight card takes place. Since the DWCS began in 2017, UFC CEO Dana White has awarded 287 UFC contracts to the competitors. Last year, in Season 8 of the DWCS , White handed out 42 UFC deals. Three fighters have become UFC champions after appearing on a DWCS card: Sean O'Malley, Jamahal Hill, and Jack Della Maddalena. Season 9, Episode 1 of the DWCS airs on ESPN+ at 7:00 p.m. ET. DWCS Season 9 Episode 1 Results - Winners DWCS Season 9 Episode 1 Results - Losers DWCS Season 9 Episode 1 Fight Card Results UFC Tonight: DWCS Season 9 Episode 1 Results Middleweight: Ilian Bouafia (6-0) vs. Neemias Santana (7-2-1) Welterweight: Ty Miller (5-0) vs. Jimmy Drago (7-2) Middleweight: Baysangur Susurkaev (8-0) vs. Murtaza Talha (7-1) Featherweight: Radley da Silva (7-1) vs. George Mangos (7-0) Middleweight: Christopher Ewert (7-0) vs. Yuri Panferov (8-1) DWCS Season 9 Episode 1 Results: Video Highlights DWCS Season 9 Episode 1: Official Scorecards Ilian Bouafia Vs. Neemias Santana A middleweight matchup between Ilian Bouafia and Neemias Santana is slated to headline the first episode of Season 9 of the DWCS. Bouafia brings a 6-0 record into the event. He is a 6-foot-five inch kickboxer, who last competed under the Ares FC banner. Bouafia's most recent fight was a February 2025 unanimous decision win over Paulin Begai. The bout marked the first time Boufia went the distance. His previous five outings ended via knockout, with four of those stoppages coming in the first round and the other in the second stanza. Santana is 7-2-1 over his career. He checks in at 6-foot-two. Santana is coming off a second-round knockout win over Marcos Vinicius on a March 2025 LFA card. He is 3-0-1 heading into Tuesday and has not lost since 2022. According to BetOnline, Bouafia is a -260 betting favorite over the +175 Santana. Bouafia uses his length well and uses a technical kickboxing style. As for Santana, he is a pressure fighter, who looks to use his power to wrap things up. The pick is Bouafia to win via knockout, but Santana, thanks to his approach, might be a pick to score an upset KO. Radley da Silva Vs. George Mangos This Radley da Silva vs. George Mangos bout takes place at featherweight. Da Silva (7-1) is a three-time defending featherweight champ under the Battlefield Fight League banner. The 30-year-old last defended that title in January with a second-round submission win over Drew Brokenshire. Da Silva has three submission wins, three decision victories and one KO. His only loss came in his first pro bout in 2013. Like his opponent in this scrap, the 21-year-old Mangos (7-0) is a defending champion. He won the HEX Fight Series crown in 2024 and has defended that belt, most recently knocking out Ethan Thomas in 34 seconds in their March 2025 scrap. Mangos has five submissions and two knockout wins. He has gone into the third round once. The current betting odds for Da Silva vs. Mangos has Mangos listed at -150 and Da Silva at +120. Both of these men are good grapplers, but Mangos might have the advantage there. He is also the better striker. With his better all-around skillset, the betting pick is for a Mangos decision win. Ty Miller Vs. Jimmy Drago In the middle of Tuesday's DWCS fight card is a welterweight matchup between Ty Miller and Jimmy Drago. Miller brings a perfect 5-0-0-1 record with him into the contest. The 25-year-old Miller is coming off a no contest on an LFA card in December. Before that he three knockouts and two decision victories. Drago is a former Ring of Combat champ. The 7-2-0-1 fighter is also coming off a no contest in his most recent matchup, a March 2025 scrap under the Cage Fury banner. Drago has four knockouts, two decisions and one submission win. He has one knockout loss and one submission setback. The betting odds for this bout find Miller at -185 and Drago at +155. The pick is for Miller to score a decision victory. Christopher Ewert Vs. Yuri Panferov Christopher Ewert and Yuri Panferov are scheduled to meet at 185 pounds. Ewert is a perfect 7-0 since making his pro debut in 2022. The 31-year-old was set to make his UFC debut at UFC 317, but a massive weight miss cost him that opportunity and his UFC contract. However, the promotion is giving him a second chance at a contract via the DWCS. Ewert has five knockouts and two decisions. He last fought in January of this year, going the distance on a Fury FC card. Panferov has an 8-1 record. The 28-year-old competed on the DWCS in 2023, losing to Torrez Finney via rear naked choke. Since that setback, Panferov is 2-0 with two knockout victories for CES. He has not fought since November 2024. Three of his career wins are by knockout, and the other five have come via submission. Panferov's most recent fight ended with 10 seconds left in the third stanza. Ewert is a -170 betting favorite over the +140 Panferov. Look for Ewert to be motivated to earn a UFC contract in this matchup after missing weight for UFC 317. He should be able to exploit the gaps in Panferov's striking and get a knockout win. Baysangur Susurkaev Vs. Murtaza Talha Opening Season 9 of the DWCS is a middleweight fight between Baysangur Susurkaev and Murtaza Talha. Susurkaev is the biggest favorite on the card at -350. He has an 8-0 record with seven knockouts and one decision. The 24-year-old is coming off a knockout on a February Fury FC card. The only question about Susurkaev is that he is taking this fight on short notice. The 29-year-old Talha fell short in 2023 when he had an opportunity to earn a DWCS deal. In that matchup, Rodolfo Bellato knocked out Talha in the second round. Since then, Talha is 1-0 with a win over Oleg Klimov who was 0-1 as a pro. So, it is a bit of a head scratcher as to why he is getting a second look on the DWCS. Talha is a +275 underdog. The pick is for Susurkaev to pick up a knockout win. We will have more on Season 9 of the DWCS as the events take place. On Tuesday night, we will have results, reactions and contract winners for Season 9, Episode 1 of the Dana White Contender Series.
