Leonardo Santos is one of the world’s top BJJ competitors, his list of achievements in the sport is incredible with 4 Brazilian World Cups to his name. Having achieved his goals in BJJ he has now moved to MMA full time to search for new goals and BAMMA have signed him up for his first UK outing at BAMMA 6. We took the opportunity to catch up with the BJJ superstar to see what he thinks of fighting in the UK, his opponent, the Japanese situation and more.
Craig Devlin: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Leonardo, if you could start off with a little introduction on how you got into MMA after your illustrious BJJ career?
Leo: I always liked MMA, I thought it’s amazing to watching Royce Gracie winning three UFCs, and plus a few Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioners overcame the Luta livre fighter back in 90s. So I had a dream of becoming a MMA competitor one day. I fought against Takanori Gomi in Japan back in 2002, after that defeat I concluded that I could be a high level mixed martial artist. Because after going to the distance against a most experienced and Japanese Champion like Gomi, in my MMA debut, I knew I could do better with a properly training. However I only dedicated myself 100% to MMA after conquering and achieved all dreams I had in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu competitions and MMA became a full time goal in 2007.
CD: This is your first time fighting in the UK, what do you think of the British MMA scene? Leo: This will also be my first time visiting England. I followed the big scene of UK MMA and we know a lot of high calibre fighters coming from the country. That’s a fact – UK fighters and events are great. CD: With Sengoku and Dream in Japan seemingly running into financial difficulties, and Strikeforce merging with UFC, do you see BAMMA filling the void and being the number 2 in the World? Leo: UFC showed its power with the acquisition of Strikeforce, so we need new shows with some investment and structure to support the huge amounts of fighters who are not signed with them. It’s sad to speak about Japan, they’ve an enormous tradition in martial arts and MMA, and after those Tsunamis and the financial difficulties of the major shows, the spotlights turned to North America, and UK with BAMMA.
CD: You’re going to be fighting Jason “Daddy Cool” Ball at BAMMA 6, he’s an experienced fighter at 18-8, what do you know about him and what type of fight are you expecting from him? Leo: I know he’s an excellent athlete and a tough fighter to face. So he may be pumped with the mix of opportunities on beating a Brazilian, in front of his home town and in a mainstream show. Because of that I’m keeping nearly to perfection in preparation for the full hand war I’ll deal him inside the cage.
CD: You had a 4 year gap between your first fight and your second why was that? Taking on Takanori Gomi for your debut when he was on a 10-0 streak must have taken some balls! Leo: Like I said before, in that period of my life, I had a different focus. The Gomi fight was an opportunity which arose and I took, because I’m a fighter. However my intention was to rank high in BJJ World Championships as MMA wasn’t mainstream delivering high payouts. My brother (Wagnner Fabiano) supported my option and I dedicated myself to BJJ, achieved my targets and I became the number lightweight BJJer of the planet. Afterwards I turned my efforts to MMA again.
CD: 5 of your wins have come by way of submission and you’re one of the world’s top BJJ fighters, is it fair to say that you’re going to look to take this fight to the ground? Leo: I’m from a school where we search for the submission, but we look to be complete fighters in any aspect of MMA and if you don’t have this mentality nowadays, you’re in the wrong profession. Of course nobody will be surprised if I take him down, but this is MMA, not submission or BJJ, so I’m ready to perform in any field.
CD: You were in line for a shot at Hirota’s Sengoku title recently, is that still a fight you’d like to take at some point in the future, whether in Sengoku or not, possibly BAMMA? Leo: My intention was the Sengoku belt, unfortunately I didn’t get. I never had the will of fighting a specific fighter, I meant this could be Hirota or other, my goal was the belt not the fighter, not the test it will or won’t present for my style. I don’t choose opponents; I choose what I want to conquest. That whole situation was very disappointing for me, because I didn’t became a challenger for the title.
CD: Your fellow countryman, Murilo “Ninja” Rua is fighting on Tom “Kong” Watson in the main event, how do you see that one going? Can he take the title back to Brazil or is it staying in the UK? Leo: I met Ninja a long time ago and I don’t see him anymore. So I don’t have much information about his training regime and etc, but I’m Brazilian, so my props are with him! I believe he’ll take this belt to our home.
CD: Your last fight with Sotoro Yamada ended with a win, but not under the usual circumstances (Yamada was disqualified for repeatedly kneeing Leonardo in the groin), without wanting to bring back any painful memories, how annoying is it to have an opponent behave like that? Leo: That was really weird to get the nod by that method. I didn’t know if I should celebrate or stay sad by the outcome. In the end of it all, that wasn’t cool. I believe Yamada had a wrong approach, he guessed I’d fight clinching and when he realized he stayed lost and did those low blows, it’s what I think, but it’s very hard to be right about that fight.
CD: I couldn’t let you go without asking you if you saw the twister submission by The Korean Zombie in the UFC recently? If so, is that the best submission you’ve seen in MMA and also, what’s your personal favourite submission technique? Leo: Yes, I did. That was a nice submission, but I think that armbar of “Minotauro” Nogueira over Bob Sapp was better, not only by the submission itself, but for all the hell of fight he did through to get that arm and extend. I really don’t have a favourite technique, my favourite one is that which makes my adversary tap out. BAMMA 6: Live at Wembley Arena, Saturday 21st May. Buy tickets from: Ticketmaster.co.uk Watch Live Exclusively only on Syfy at 9pm Sky/HD 114, Virgin TV 135 and TalkTalk 22