Former UFC title challenger Thiago Santos provides update after contracting COVID-19

UFC light heavyweight contender Thiago Santos has provided an update to fans after he contracted COVID-19.

Santos was set to square off with Glover Teixeira in a vital showdown between two of the division’s top stars on October 3, but due to “Marreta” testing positive for Coronavirus, that date will no longer be possible. It comes just over a month after Teixeira himself tested positive for the virus.

Thiago Santos has now taken to social media in order to clear up how he’s feeling and what the immediate future holds for him.

Hi my friends! I caught COVID-19, so now my focus is on my health and recovery. I am taking care of myself abd already starting to feel a little better everyday. I will be back training and ready to fight soon. Thank you all for your messages on positive energy! ⚒🙏🏾👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/UBGjNMKQOP

— Thiago Marreta (@TMarretaMMA) September 18, 2020

“Hi my friends! I caught COVID-19, so now my focus is on my health and recovery. I am taking care of myself and already starting to feel a little better everyday. I will be back training and ready to fight soon. Thank you all for your messages on positive energy!”.

While many would favor Thiago Santos in a possible match-up with Glover Teixeira, the veteran’s coach John Hackleman has spoken recently about why he’s been on such a great run of form in the last few years.

“He has so many natural attributes and he has such a hard work ethic,” Hackleman said of Teixeira. “So in conditioning – he has our ‘Pit’ conditioning program and that’s kinda well known, Joe Rogan’s talked about it, a lot of people talk about it. But with that said, some guys seem to take it to an extreme like Court McGee. Sometimes they train a little too hard that when it comes to fight time, that training has been left in the gym or they don’t have as much for the cage.

“Now, Glover trains as hard, he does the old ‘Pit’ training, but now he’s also doing some of that, I think it’s called PI, the UFC guys do so. They send him workouts to combine with ours, it seems to work like a charm because he tends to push a little too hard. But now with these PI guys, they’ve kind of kept him in check and give him different workouts for his other days and they’re shorter and more efficient than mine.”

Are you hoping the UFC will rebook the proposed bout between Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.