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Mairon Santos has joined one of the most popular and up-and-coming gyms in MMA.
Ahead of his featherweight matchup against Muhammad Naimov (13-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas, Santos (16-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has left Xtreme Couture to join The Fighting Nerds, home to top contenders Caio Borralho, Carlos Prates and Jean Silva.
“You don’t know? I’m a nerd now,” Santos told MMA Junkie Radio. “I first visited here in July, and then I got to spend one month. I was just going to stay two weeks, and then I had to stay a little bit more, and then it was necessary to make me fall in love with the team. Then I went back to Vegas just to get my stuff, take my clothes, things like that, then I came back. I think I’m here for a total of three months, and yeah, I’m living here now.”
The Season 32 “Ultimate Fighter” winner explained the decision behind his move.
“It’s not only because of the team,” Santos said. “Of course, training here is good, but it’s also because now I have a son. I’m close to the family. It’s good to be with Brazilian people again. So, I think I was missing that.”
Santos sees The Fighting Nerds as the new wave of coaching.
“The way that they see the game, the way that they are very smart about approaching the fight,” Santos said. “Like the stages that they go through before even the fight starts. Just the way they see the fighting game, it’s different. They have all these steps that they have to go through before starting the fight. They make us athletes see beyond this instinct we have to fight and go to war. It just makes us comfortable in there.”
