Sengoku middleweight champ Jorge Santiago wants to fight again in the U.S.
by Steven Marrocco on Aug 30, 2010 at 1:30 pm ET
It's been almost three years since World Victory Road/Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago (23-8 MMA, 7-1 WVR) fought at home – or at least his adopted home.
Santiago, a Brazilian who hails from Rio de Janeiro but who's long called Coconut Creek, Fla., home, said he'd like to fight in the U.S. sooner than later.
While he feels comfortable as a champion in one of Japan's most notable organizations, he's on a search to fight the world's best middleweights, and that could lead him stateside.
Plus, a shorter plane ride would be nice.
"I would love to get back to the United States," Santiago recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (
www.mmajunkie.com/radio) this past week.
The American Top Team standout is fresh off his most difficult title defense yet, which resulted in a fifth-round TKO victory over Kazuo Misaki in a rematch of their January 2009 meeting. Santiago also won that fight to become the organization's undisputed middleweight title.
Misaki (22-11-2 MMA, 3-2 WVR) nearly took revenge when he dropped Santiago with a flurry of punches in the fight's fourth round. The referee was seconds away from stopping the action, but Santiago managed to survive the onslaught when he righted himself and tumbled through the ropes. (He was deducted a point for the infractio, despite the fact that Misaki had done the same thing earlier in the match.)
Santiago repaid the favor in the fifth round when he dropped Misaski and proceeded to issue a minutes-long beatdown. The referee once again was put on short notice, but before he could step in, Misaki's corner threw in the towel with 30 seconds remaining in the fight.
It was Santiago's second successful title defense and brought his record to 11-1 since his UFC release in December 2006.
The Brazilian collapsed after the win as his team dogpiled him. Until the finish, Santiago had felt he was behind on the scorecards, and he was later proven correct.
"Every time you go Japan, I know [I have] to make an impressive win because if you go to the judges ... it's going to be hard to get the win if I leave it in their hands," Santiago said. "Mindset is everything, and I think it's what I have the best in my game. That's what [made] me win, I think."
He slept for two days after the flight home to Coconut Creek, but when he woke up, Santiago couldn't help himself from returning to the gym. His only respite is Starbucks coffee.
"I can't take too much time out of the gym," Santiago said. "That's what I do for a living and for fun."
Sengoku officials require him to defend his belt once every six months, but that doesn't mean Santiago wants to wait that long. He's open to proving his talents once again in the U.S., particularly in Strikeforce, where he won a single-night four-man tournament in November 2007 shortly before making his way overseas.
"After the tournament that I fought in 2007, we finished the contract," Santiago said of his time with the San Jose, Calif.-based promotion. "I was waiting for the offer, but in the meantime, I had a good offer from Japan. We still talk. I'm just waiting for their call."
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had targeted the winner of Santiago vs. Misaki for a spot in a middleweight tournament planned for October, but the promotion recently scrapped those plans in favor of single fights, and no dates have been finalized.
Still, Santiago says he's more than ready to step up if called.
"For now, I am the middleweight champion, and I still want to fight the best middleweights," he said. "So wherever they are, I want to go after them, and if it's possible that the promoters make it happen at Strikeforce or UFC, I'll be there."
Besides, air miles are so overrated.
For more on Sengoku Raiden Championship 14, stay tuned to the MMA Events section of
www.MMAjunkie.com. 
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