Advertisement

Thiago Santos heading to Vegas for possible TUF 27 Finale replacement headliner

Despite UFC President Dana White announcing the veteran fighter has a broken foot and is out of The Ultimate fighter 27 Finale headliner, Brad Tavares is going to try to push through an injury and fight Israel Adesanya.

If Tavares (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) can’t fight, though, the UFC is going to be prepared with a backup; Thiago “Marreta” Santos (17-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) has agreed to do the duty, his manager confirmed to MMAjunkie following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

The TUF 27 Finale takes place July 6 at Pearl Theater in Las Vegas. The middleweight bout between Tavares and Adesanya (13-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) headlines the FS1-televised card following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Earlier this month, White said that Tavares hurt his foot in training and would not be able to fight. Shortly after, though, Tavares chalked up the situation to “miscommunication and misinformation” and said he was 100 percent planning to fight Adesanya.

The UFC is taking a better-safe-than-sorry approach, however, and will fly Santos to Las Vegas from Brazil for fight week in case his services are needed against unbeaten rising star Adesanya.

The latest TUF 27 Finale lineup includes:

  • Israel Adesanya vs. Brad Tavares
  • Mike Trizano vs. TBA – “The Ultimate Fighter 27” lightweight tournament final
  • TBA vs. TBA – “The Ultimate Fighter 27” featherweight tournament final
  • Alessio Di Chirico vs. Julian Marquez
  • Barb Honchak vs. Roxanne Modafferi
  • Montana De La Rosa vs. Rachael Ostovich
  • Matt Bessette vs. Steven Peterson
  • Martin Bravo vs. Alex Caceres
  • Luis Pena vs. Richie Smullen

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

More News