Athletes
Mairon Santos | When Dreams Come True
The Ultimate Fighter Winner Talks Fatherhood, UFC 313 And What Comes Next
Mairon Santos is just beginning his road to a UFC championship, but in January, he already got his most important title: Dad.
“It's a blessing,” said Santos, who welcomed his son Ayron into the world with his wife Yasmim as the best New Year’s gift. That means a lot of sleepless nights, diaper changes, and a whole new world. It’s a good thing, but not exactly ideal when preparing for a fight. But Santos, who faces Francis Marshall on Saturday, has been handling it all like a champ.
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“Actually, it's easier than I thought because I'm so happy,” he said. “Having him is a blessing and I always dreamed about this. So, for me, nothing changed.”
Well, one thing changed, or should we say got elevated, and that’s his motivation.
“Yes, for sure,” said Santos. “I didn't know that I could be more motivated because I'm very motivated to achieve my dreams, but with him, I know that I'm even more motivated.”
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An ultra-motivated Santos is a dangerous man, and since winning season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter last August with a second-round knockout of Kaan Ofli, he’s been waiting to get down to the business of chasing a featherweight title.
“I wanted to fight earlier, before the end of the year,” he said. “I was ready, and I stayed ready. I just took off maybe one month and I was back in the gym, waiting for a fight. Featherweight is a weight class with a lot of fighters, so I understand that, but I'm more than ready because I've been training for a fight since after my last fight.”
The timing is actually perfect for the Brazilian, as he gets to come back on a major pay-per-view event headlined by a countryman he said he will one day follow to the top of the UFC – light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira.
“Yeah, I said that and it's crazy now because I'm fighting the same card of him,” Santos said. “So yeah, two Alexes are fighting the same night.”
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Santos laughs, yet while comparing the two is something for the future, at present, the 24-year-old has shown glimpses of the potential to one day be measured favorably to “Poatan.” And just being in the position to control his own destiny at the pinnacle of the sport makes it a heady time for a young man who was once just a teenager with a dream.
“My dream was always to be in the UFC since I was 14 and I’ve been 10 years working for that,” Santos said. “And, at some point, I thought, oh my God, when is this going to happen? Now, it happened, and in the blink of a second, I'm in the UFC, I achieved my dream. What now? So I think the biggest thing for me was to keep focused because I achieved one dream, but I have a long road to go and I can't stop training and doing my best at the gym just because I achieved this one dream. So I had to find another motivation, and now that I'm in the UFC, I have to keep working hard and get the belt, because that's my biggest dream.”
UFC 313: Pereira vs Ankalaev took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 8, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!