Jimi Manuwa’s replacement opponent for UFC Sao Paulo may not be Thiago Santos.

Manuwa was scheduled to take on Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo on Sept. 22. The event will be held inside the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Teixeira was pulled from the card due to a shoulder injury.
Jimi Manuwa Reportedly Turns Down Bout With Thiago Santos

Reports noted that middleweight Santos was ready and willing to step up to replace Teixeira to go one-on-one with the “Poster Boy.” A new report from MMA Brasil’s Tarso Doria claims that Manuwa was offered the fight, but turned it down:

Thiago Marreta was offered to fight Jimi Manuwa at UFC Sao Paulo's main event, but Manuwa declined to fight him, sources tell @mmabrasil's new writer @TarsoDoria. #MMA #UFC #UFCSP #UFCSaoPaulo

— Matheus Costa (@MatheusCostaMMA) August 15, 2018

If the report holds true, then the UFC may have to settle for Khalil Rountree. Ariel Helwani noted that Rountree offered to fill in and is actually in Brazil right now. The UFC wants to have a fighter from Brazil headline the card. Time will tell if UFC officials will get their wish.

Having lost two straight bouts, Manuwa is facing the first three-fight skid in his professional mixed martial arts career. He suffered losses to Volkan Oezdemir and Jan Blachowicz in his last two trips to the Octagon. His last win was back in March 2017 against Corey Anderson.

As for Santos, he was hoping to get the spotlight in front of his home country. Santos was last seen in action at UFC 227 earlier this month. He defeated Kevin Holland via unanimous decision to rebound from his devastating knockout loss to David Branch. Santos told reporters after the bout that he’d entertain a move to light heavyweight, but not before getting a fight on the UFC 230 card.