UFC
Jorge Santiago on UFC 130 loss to Brian Stann - "I thought it'd be easy and I lost focus"
Jun 1, 2011 - 12:15:56 PM Jorge Santiago on UFC 130 loss to Brian Stann - "I thought it'd be easy and I lost focus"

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Jorge Santiago's return to the UFC at UFC 130 went about as well as his last stint ended in 2006, with him on the receiving end of a TKO loss to Brian Stann.

Reflecting on the loss in an interview with Tatame.com, Santiago said he believes he came into the fight too confident, and his overconfidence caused him to lose focus.

"I guess what went wrong is that I was too confident," Santiago said. "I didn't feel the pressure by the fans, of having everybody staring at me. I was too at ease, I thought it'd be easy and I lost focus."

"I didn't do what I could've done. The guys that train with me and are part of my team, like Gesias [Cavalcante], said I didn't do half what I could. It was his big day. Next time I won't let it happen."

Santiago says he hasn't heard anything from the UFC yet on his next fight, though with a medical suspension until November or until he's cleared there's no rush on that end. But with winning a "Fight of the Night" bonus despite the loss, Santiago isn't concerned, and gives credit to Stann for a big performance on Saturday.

"They haven't [said] anything, but they liked the bout, and you can tell it because they considered it the best of the evening," Santiago said. "There were many good things about it, it was a busy bout, which is something that the fans enjoy."

"[Brian Stann's] a pro, a good man, who's been improving a lot and so, he's taking larger steps now. I guess that for what he knows about me, he's aware I wasn't at my best. He said [at the post-fight press conference] he hoped more from me."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Santiago's got an excellent well-rounded game, but his chin has been an issue for him for awhile, and I don't think he necessarily took Stann's power as seriously as he should have into the fight. Not that he could have done much else to deal with it in this one, but his willingness to trade with Stann in the fight was probably a mistake on his part, and it led to his downfall in this return bout. That said, he can still come back strong, and he has the skills to beat a lot of the guys in the UFC's middleweight division, so hopefully we see him back this fall in another solid matchup.