Bruno Santos (born July 17, 1987) is a Brazilian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

currently fighting in the Middleweight division of the

World Series of Fighting The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

now known as

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

and is currently ranked as #1 contender for the belt.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Santos faced Danilo Pereira on August 29, 2009, at Win Fight & Entertainment 4 for the WFE Middleweight Championship, winning via unanimous decision.

Bellator MMA

Undefeated at 12–0, Santos made his

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * ''Bellator'' (fish), a fish genus in the family Triglidae (sea robins) ** ...

debut against

Giva Santana Giva Santana (born November 20th, 1971) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, who last fought in Bellator's Middleweight division. Santana also competed in the promotions ShoXC and M-1 Global. He is a decorated jiu-jitsu comp ...

Bellator 61 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so i ...

on March 16, 2012. Though a considerable underdog coming into the fight, Santos would win the fight via unanimous decision, remaining undefeated in the process. He was then expected to face Brian Rogers on April 20, 2012 at Bellator 66, however Santos was forced out of the bout due to a shoulder injury.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Little over a year after his win over

, Santos was signed by the UFC and made his debut against fellow newcomer

Krzysztof Jotko Krzysztof Jotko (born August 19, 1989) is a Polish mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light heavyweight (MMA), Light Heavyweight division. He has previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Fighters Leagu ...

on December 7, 2013, at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Bigfoot. Santos lost the fight via unanimous decision. Santos faced

Chris Camozzi Christopher Allen Camozzi (born November 20, 1986) is an American professional Glory (kickboxing), Glory kickboxer, mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer. He currently competes for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship ...

UFC 175 ''UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida'' was a mixed martial arts event held on July 5, 2014, at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was headlined by a Middleweight Championship bout between the current champion Chris W ...

on July 5, 2014. He won the fight by split decision. Santos next faced

Elias Theodorou Elias Theodorou (May 31, 1988 – September 11, 2022) was a Canadian mixed martial artist. He competed for the UFC in the Middleweight division where he was ranked 13th until his release, and won '' The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Austr ...

on October 4, 2014 at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine. He lost the fight via unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.

World Series of Fighting

On December 31, 2016, Santos made his

debut at WSOF 34 against undefeated Vagab Vagabov. He won the fight via split decision. On July 29, 2017 Bruno Santos defeated Rex Harris in a middleweight bout at �
PFL: Everett
” the second event for the newly formed

bringing his professional MMA record to 16-2. Starting with a victory against

Sadibou Sy Sadibou Sy (born November 27, 1986) is a Swedish mixed martial artist who competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Professional Fighters League. Background Sadibou Sy, a mixed martial artist with Senegalese roots, grew up ...

at PFL 3 on July 5, 2018, in Washington, D.C., the fighter then continued the winning streak with another unanimous decision victory over

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

at PFL 6 in Atlantic City on August 16 of the same year. However, a change of fortune occurred during the 2018 PFL Middleweight Quarterfinal bout, where the fighter faced

again at PFL 10, resulting in a majority draw and elimination via a first-round tiebreaker on October 20, 2018. The following year was marked by setbacks, with losses to Vyacheslav Babkin by TKO at ACA 97: Goncharov vs. Johnson 2 on August 31, 2019, and Artem Frolov by KO at ACA 104: Goncharov vs. Vakhaev on February 21, 2020, both in Krasnodar, Russia. A return to form came with a unanimous decision win against Carlos Matos at Titan FC 81 on April 14, 2023, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Making a quick turnaround, Santos lost to Jared Revel by rear-naked choke technical submission at BFL 77 on June 9, 2023, in Vancouver, Canada, in a significant match for the BFL Middleweight Championship.

Championships and accomplishments

* Win Fight & Entertainment ** WFE Middleweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

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Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

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Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

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Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

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Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

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Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

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Daniel Acácio Daniel Acácio (born 27 December 1977) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, also current Superior Challenge Welterweight Champion and 100% Fight Middleweight Champion. He is most notable for his fights in PRIDE Fighting Championship ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Bruno 1987 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Lauro de Freitas Sportspeople from Macaé 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen