Thiago Santos manager cites week fight delay in missed weight
Eric Prindle and Thiago Santos were on opposite sides of Bellator’s Season 5 Heavyweight Tournament bracket, with its $100,000 total…
Eric Prindle and Thiago Santos were on opposite sides of Bellator’s Season 5 Heavyweight Tournament bracket, with its $100,000 total purse (ist fight was 10/10, 2nd & 3rd was 20/20), and a title fight with Champion Cole Konrad.
The two were to meet in the finals at Bellator 59, but Santos punted Prindle in the nuts (there is not more accurate description). The nut punt was declared accidental, and the bout a No Contest.
This is the ‘accident’:
The two were rescheduled to fight last Friday at Bellator 61, but Prindle got the flu, and was forced to withdraw at the last moment.
Finally they were scheduled to fight this past Friday at Bellator 62, but Santos weighed in at 277.8, and was unable to make the 265 pound cutoff, so Prindle was declared the winner in one weird tournament win.
Bellator Chairman/CEO Bjorn Rebney blamed the weight issue on a poor nutritional approach, but in an interview with MMAJunkie, Silva’s manager Josef Borges offered another explanation.
“What happened with Thiago was that he needed to cut a lot of weight for the fight on March 16,” said Borges. “He cut 12 kilograms (27.5 pounds) up until 1 p.m. of March 15, when I called him to inform him the fight was postponed. At that moment, he was only 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) from making weight.
“I reaffirm that he would make the weight, as was the case in his three previous Bellator bouts. But the event was postponed by one week, and so he had difficulties in cutting the 15 kilograms (33 pounds) yet again. He lost 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds) but could not lose the remainder, despite a hard battle against the scale. He was emotionally perturbed.”
“I don’t agree with the way Bjorn spoke about Thiago. Thiago fought three times for Bellator and made weight every time. He would have made weight again on March 15. In my opinion, the fight should have been rescheduled for another date. Cutting weight two weeks in a row is very difficult, and Thiago was not ready to do this.
“We respect the contract we signed, but it does not state that he’d have to lose weight two weeks in a row. He came ready to make weight on March 15 and was going to. He was only 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) above the weight he made for his other Bellator fights. As such, making weight on March 15 would not have been a problem.”
“Regarding his diet, Thiago comes a very impoverished region. He does not make much money yet, and can’t change his dietary habits suddenly. This must be done gradually, so it’s done correctly. I can’t force him to substitute beans for sashimi from one day to the next. These things take time. I am aware of the factors, but these changes take time to be implemented.”
“I wish to communicate to Bjorn that the reason for not making the weight was not from eating mashed potatoes. In this instance the change of the fight date very much affected Thiago emotionally.”