UFC 259: Aleksandar Rakic sorry for targeting Thiago Santos’ knees in dull win – ‘I don’t want to do this’
- Austrian gets given his brown belt by coach after unanimous decision – then calls for shot at light heavyweight title
- ‘The game plan was to keep the distance, to reach him with the long punches, because we know Thiago is a sledgehammer,’ says Rakic
Aleksandar Rakic admitted he felt bad for targeting Thiago Santos’ surgically-repaired knees in an uneventful UFC 259 light heavyweight opener to the main card.
The 29-year-old Austrian (14-2) took home two scorecards of 29-28, the other a clean sweep of 30-27, against the Brazilian former title challenger Santos (21-9) at the Apex facility on Saturday night.
Much like last weekend’s headliner in Las Vegas between heavyweights Ciryl Gane and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, there was far less violence on display than anticipated, with Rakic enacting a cautious strategy.
“The game plan was to keep the distance, to reach him with the long punches, because we know Thiago is a sledgehammer and he likes to counter when people come close to him with wild, wild punches,” he told Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview.
“I don’t know how he does it, but he does it. Game plan was to pick him apart, to do the kicks, to damage the legs and the knees. It’s the fight business – I don’t want to do this. I had the same thing he has, but only one knee. I had surgeries on my left knee back in the days, and I know how hard it is to come back.
“It’s a little bit unfair, but this is the fight game. I want my chance to get the title. This is the third or fourth title challenger in a row for me, and I beat all of them, so I want the belt.”