Marlon Sandro
Marlon Sandro
Ht: 5’8 – Wt: 145 – Age: 35
Born: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fights out of: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Team: Nova Uniao
Overall Record: 23-4
Promotion: Bellator
2012 Forecast:
Marlon Sandro has long been considered one of the top featherweights in the world. Sandro made his MMA debut in 2004, quickly dominating the Brazilian circuit with a 9-0 overall record before making his way over to Japan in 2007. Sandro won the Pancrase featherweight championship before signing with Sengoku. Sandro entered the Sengoku featherweight Grand Prix, easily winning his first two fights over Matt Jaggers and Nick Denis to reach the semifinals. Sandro was robbed in his semifinal matchup against Michihiro Omigawa, losing one of the most controversial decisions in MMA history. Sandro rebounded from his first career loss by notching three straight wins via 1st round knockouts, the latter of which came against Masanori Kanehara for the Sengoku featherweight championship. Sandro stumbled in his next bout, losing his first legitimate fight via unanimous decision to grappler Hatsu Hioki. Sandro left Sengoku and signed with Bellator in 2011. Sandro entered Bellator’s Summer Series featherweight tournament as the clear favorite. After winning decisions over Genair da Silva and Nazareno Malegarie, Sandro stunningly lost in the finals to Pat Curran via 2nd round knockout. Sandro was arguably winning the fight up until Curran landed the head kick that forced the stoppage. Sandro bounced back by defeating Rafael Dias in a non-tournament bout and looks primed for Bellator’s next featherweight tournament where revenge is fresh on his mind. Sandro is still considered one of the top 10 fighters in the featherweight division, regardless of promotion. At 34 years of age, he is starting to show a few signs of age, mostly regarding his quickness and cardio. Sandro has excellent knockout power and solid submission skills. Sandro will likely be considered the favorite to win the next Bellator featherweight tournament, but there are questions as to whether Sandro’s body can hold up to another frenetic pace of the tournament schedule.
Marlon Sandro Fight Record
Overall Record: 20-3
2008-2011 Record: 10-3
2011 Record: 3-1
Win | Rafael Dias | Sub | Rd 1 | Bellat | 10/15/2011
Loss | Pat Curran | KO | Rd 2 | Bellat | 04/16/2011
Win | Nazareno Malegarie | Dec | Rd 3 | Bellat | 10/15/2011
Win | Genair da Silva | Dec | Rd 3 | Bellat | 04/16/2011
2010 Record: 2-1
Loss | Hatsu Hioki | Dec | Rd 5 | Seng | 10/14/2010
Win | Masanori Kanehara | KO | Rd 1 | Seng | 09/23/2010
Win | Tomonari Kanomata | KO | Rd 1 | Seng | 09/02/2010
2009 Record: 3-1
Win | Yuji Hoshino | KO | Rd 1 | Seng | 08/23/2009
Loss | Michihiro Omigawa | Dec | Rd 3 | Seng | 06/06/2009
Win | Nick Denis | KO | Rd 1 | Seng | 01/23/2009
Win | Matt Jaggers | Sub | Rd 2 | Seng | 01/23/2009
2008 Record: 2-0
Win | Masaya Takita | Dec | Rd 3 | | 05/31/2008
Win | Miki Shida | KO | Rd 2 | | 01/25/2008
