Mairon Santos‘s victory over Francis Marshall will go down as one of the most polarizing bouts of 2025.
Prospective Brazilian Fighter Mairon Santos Returns in Las Vegas
Opening up the preliminary portion of UFC 313, prospective featherweights Mairon Santos and Francis Marshall duked it out in what appeared to be a blowout performance for the American.
Fresh off a triumphant UFC debut by defeating Kaan Ofli for the Ultimate Fighter Season 32 championship, Mairon Santos had a lot of big expectations from fans going into his first promotional pay-per-view. Losing his last fight to fellow TUF alumni Dan Argueta at bantamweight, “The Legend” had since stayed in the win column in a seemingly permanent move to 145-lb.
Snagging his spot in the UFC with a unanimous decision victory on Dana White’s Contender Series over Connor Matthews in 2022, Marshall picked up a splendid first round knockout in his first bout in the company against Marcelo Rojo.
However, two subsequent setbacks versus featherweight bruisers in William Gomis and Isaac Dulgarian had seriously halted the momentum of “Fire.”
Close Battle Between Mairon Santos and Francis Marshall Leads to Highly-Controversial Decision
In the opening minutes of the first stanza, both fighters fought a very measured and patient contest, with Santos finding his range with his jab and kicks and Marshall using fast movements to try and land his power shots. The leg kick became a factor early on for the two men, as they both managed to sweep the other off the other competitor’s feet at least once with it.
Near the end of the round, Santos bloodied the American with a stiff overhand before Marshall dropped the Brazilian with a huge steeping left hook. Though he made it back up, Santos was clearly rocked by the blow, and Marshall was quick to grab a body lock, pelting his foe with punches before the round ended.
Appearing to have recovered somewhat from the down, Santos continued to use his jab and leg kicks to get himself back into the bout, while Marshall, sensing his opponent may still have been hurt, pressured Santos with more volume and stiff strikes. With less than two minutes left in the second, Marshall tried to take down Mairon Santos, which he succeeded in doing and even negated an attempted reversal from “The Legend.”
Marshall Turns Up Heat on Mairon Santos
Spending the majority of the next minute on Mairon Santos’ back, Marshall began to wear even more on his adversary’s gas tank before Santos eventually broke free. Delivering a partial head kick near the end of the round, Santos tried to get some more points on the board in a last charge at Marshall before the horn sounded.
With the possibility of him being down two rounds to zero (with the live odds at the time elevating Marshall to a -620 favorite), Mairon Santos came out much more aggressive in the third, mixing up his punches to the body and head of “Fire.” Over the course of the rest of their encounter, both fighters engaged in a close striking chess match.
Although they were unable to land any significantly damaging blows, they did, however, showcase their stellar defensive skills, looking to be equals for the first time in the standup. In the waning seconds of the scrap, Marshall, once more, took Santos down, controlling him and getting a few minor punches by the time the clock had run out.
On the onset, the match had come down to the wire in terms of strikes landed, as Santos had just barely edged out Marshall on the number of strikes landed 78-64. But the American had easily outclassed the TUF winner in the grappling area, racking up over two minutes of control time to Mairon Santos’ meager two seconds.
In the eyes of almost everyone in the T-Mobile Arena, Marshall had seemingly won the fight, but in a bafflingly turn of events, it was Santos who ended up getting his hand raised by split decision. The announcement instantly divided the MMA community, with heavy boos ringing out across the venue at what looked like completely incompetent judging.
Por decisão dividida! 🇧🇷@MaironSantoss vence em sua estreia no #UFC313!
[ Assista AGORA no @UFCFightPassBR | Assine já: https://t.co/OD62F561g5 ] pic.twitter.com/p45Sp2jXyb
— UFC Brasil (@UFCBrasil) March 9, 2025
Aftermath and Mairon Santos’ career going forward
While he may have gotten the victory, Santos’s stock took a considerable dive in the wake of his close dust up with Marshall. Despite two of the judges awarding the contest to the Brazilian, every other pundit watching had given the nod to “Fire” in a landslide decision. Though he still remains unblemished in the UFC, Santos will have a lot to prove in his next outing to the Octagon after just prevailing over a strong opponent by the slimmest of margins. Only time will tell if “The Legend” can rebound from his controversial victory in Las Vegas and redeem himself to fight fans around the world.
