Thiago Santos hammers Eryk Anders, scores third-round finish with elbows in wild slugfest

Thiago Santos has a large tattoo of a sledgehammer that covers his chest and much of his stomach, and it says much about his fighting style. And he spent much of his night Saturday landing sledgehammers on the head and chin of Eryk Anders during their light heavyweight bout in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in the main event of Ultimate Fight Night 137.

Anders took an unbelievable amount of hard shots and didn’t flinch, but the former Alabama football star eventually caved. The fight was a back-and-forth battle throughout, and Anders had his moments, but Santos’ power wore on Anders, particularly the kicks to the body he threw.

Late in the third round, Santos hurt Anders with a left hand and then a right that forced him back into the cage. Anders went for a double leg takedown, but Santos began pounding the elbow onto his head. Santos landed a series of elbows to the ear as Anders was trying to take him down. Anders slumped to his knees at one point, and when the horn sounded to end the third, he collapsed onto his back. The problem for Anders was that he was in Santos’ corner. Twice, he collapsed as he attempted to walk across the Octagon to his corner.

Referee Marc Godard allowed him a chance after he went down the first time, but when he slumped to his knees the second time as he was being aided by a cornerman and a cutman, Godard had seen enough. He waved off the fight to give Santos the impressive third-round TKO victory.

An emotional Santos dedicated the fight to his late father, and said he was trying to be a role model for children he helps in Brazil. There were 200 of them in the crowd as his guest on Saturday.

“Winning and losing is a part of the sport, a part of life,” Santos said. “It’s how you act outside the Octagon that is important. I want to thank Eryk Anders for taking this last-minute fight.”

The main event of the show was supposed to be Glover Teixeira against Jimi Manuwa. When Teixeira pulled out with an injury, Santos replaced him in August. But when Manuwa tore a hamstring about two weeks ago, Anders took the fight. It was a risky decision that had the potential to move him into the rankings. But he went into the bout without benefit of a full camp going against a guy who had knockout power with his fists and his kicks.

Santos is now 19-6, while Anders fell to 11-2.

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