UFC light heavyweight Thiago Santos believes he can steal back the next title shot from Israel Adesanya with a finish over Glover Teixeira.

Santos takes on Teixeira in a five-round main event of this weekend’s UFC on ESPN+ 40 event. Santos is the No. 1 ranked contender at 205lbs and Teixeira is ranked No. 3, so the general consensus among fans and media is that this is a title eliminator. However, that looks like it’s not the case anymore after UFC president Dana White recently said that Adesanya is getting the next title shot at the 205lbs belt that Blachowicz wears.

Speaking to Sherdog.com’s Marcelo Alonso ahead of his big main event against Teixeira, Santos said that he’s not sold yet on Adesanya getting the next title shot. In fact, the Brazilian KO artist is confident the fans will push for him to get the next crack at the belt.

“A few weeks ago, (UFC President Dana White) said the contender would come from the winner of my fight with Glover, now Adesanya got the place,” Santos said.

“Let’s wait and see. Two things I’ve learned in my seven years fighting in UFC: Fights are decided by the fans, and settled only when both fighters sign the contract. I’m sure that if me or Glover have a great (performance), the fans will be eager to see the winner fighting for the belt.”

Santos was then asked how the fight with Teixeira will go, and while he couldn’t give a prediction as to how he wins, he did predict that the fight won’t go the distance.

“Glover is a complete fighter that looks for the knockout or submission all the time. I would bet that this fight is not going to reach the 5th round. The only assurance I have is that fans will have a lot of fun in our fight,” Santos said.

Do you think Thiago Santos will jump past Israel Adesanya if he finishes Glover Teixeira?