UFC flyweight and jiu-jitsu ace Erin Blanchfield will make a serious step up in competition in February when she faces Taila Santos, but she isn’t concerned. Blanchfield, fresh off the back of a first-round submission victory over Molly “Meatball” McCann, believes that Santos isn’t particularly dangerous. This is despite the fact that Santos’ last fight saw her take the division’s champion, Valentina Shevchenko, to a close decision. Blanchfield discussed the matchup in a recent episode of Morning Kombat.
“When they offered it to me – I like to have notice, I like to have a full camp so I can be prepared for anybody, but as long as I have that, I know I can beat anybody in the world. So yeah, I’m definitely hyped for it.
Erin Blanchfield: Taila Santos Isn’t Dangerous
She’s a little bit taller than me, I’m like 5’4, she’s like 5’6. She’s a striker but she has some good wrestling, she likes her takedowns off the cage, her jiu-jitsu is decent. I mean she’s well-rounded, but I don’t think she’s necessarily dangerous.”
Erin Blanchfield made her UFC debut last year and has yet to lose a fight in the promotion. Blanchfield thoroughly derailed the Molly “Meatball” McCann hype train in her most recent outing, taking McCann down early in the first round and methodically applying a brutal kimura.
Before she entered the world of mixed martial arts, Blanchfield was a 2017 Eddie Bravo Invitational champion. Blanchfield’s aggressive, submission-oriented grappling has earned her a fearsome reputation in the UFC despite her relative inexperience in the promotion.
Taila Santos, on the other hand, is a relative veteran of the division. Although she lost to Valentina Shevchenko, Santos managed to do what no fighter, bar Amanda Nunes, has been able to do, and made Shevchenko look beatable. Santos described the fight as “easy” and will be looking to return to winning ways against Blanchfield.
“I was surprised by how easy it was. I was expecting the fight to be much harder in some areas. That’s what I wanted to show, though. That’s she’s not this monster, this unbeatable girl that the other girls were thinking. I respected her, she has had the belt for years now, so I prepared really well. I was ready to solve the puzzle.
I was surprised, because I thought it was going to be hard to take her down. I thought it would be hard to impose my will, because she’s a really smart girl. In the end, it was easier than I had anticipated. When we went to the fence, I was able to take her down really easily. I was able to take her back and dominate her. That’s what surprised me. I expected more hardships. but in the end it was easier.”
Is Erin Blanchfield right about Taila Santos? Let us know in the comments.
