Imagine you’ve dreamt of an opportunity for a long time. Then it comes along. When it does, though, it’s at a time when you weren’t really expecting it. Hell, you’re not even sure if you want it at all.

That’s how Bruno Santos (16-2), who meets Sadibou Sy (6-2) at PFL 3 on Thursday, describes getting his UFC call in 2013.

“I wasn’t going to say no,” Santos told MMAjunkie. “Perhaps I kind of even wanted to say no. I didn’t want it, for no specific reason – I just didn’t want to fight anymore. But then the opportunity appeared, and I thought maybe that would be the thing to get me to want it again.”

Santos had reasons to be less-than-enthused about fighting then.

Despite boasting a spotless 13-fight record, Santos was in the frustrating process of recovering from a shoulder injury. He had been cleared by the doctors to get back to training, but his weight had gone up in the aftermath of surgery. As a lifelong athlete, Santos was having a tough time getting used to his somewhat different body.

To make matters worse, after seven years of nonstop dedication, Santos was also dealing with overtraining. He was told by his doctor that it could take one year, or more, to fully recover from it.

Santos didn’t believe it and thought it would be up to him to pull through. But between surgery recovery and the effects of overtraining, he wasn’t as fast as before. He wasn’t as strong before. And, perhaps most importantly, he wasn’t as confident as before.

“That’s the worst, because you put that pressure on yourself,” Santos told MMAjunkie. “‘My arm isn’t able to lift the same amount of weight, I can’t throw the punch the same way.’

“I’d train one day and have to rest for two. I always loved training, I always worked myself hard, but I just couldn’t do it. It was extremely frustrating. Can you imagine? My entire life, I’d been training, practicing sports, and then there comes a point when you can barely walk your dog?’”

Quite simply, Santos says, his heart wasn’t in it anymore. So, after a successful Bellator one-off, which trailed a 12-fight winning streak on the Brazilian regional stage, he went on an unremarkable UFC stint. He lost to Krzysztof Jotko in his debut, narrowly beat Chris Camozzi with a split decision afterward, and lost another decision to Elias Theodorou. Then, he was out.

When the 30-year-old middleweight recalls these experiences, however, it isn’t with sadness or self-pity.

“It was a good experience, on the one hand, because there’s a lot to be learned from bad experiences, as well,” Santos said.

A look at Santos’ record might tell you that he had – and lost – his time at the top. But, after giving it his best shot at a bad time, Santos knows that what might conventionally seen at the top wasn’t his top.

“I didn’t peak in the UFC,” Santos said. “I was at the top event, but I wasn’t at my top. I knew that. I was far from being what I am now. Or even of being what I was before that.”

A quick detour

As he embarks on his journey toward PFL’s lofty $1 million prize, Santos is healthy, happy and motivated. But, in order to get his head – and heart – back in the game, he had to first walk away from it.

After the UFC, Santos decided he’d had a good run and it was time to re-purpose his life. So he went back to school, studying to become a mechanical engineer, and accepted a job with his grandfather.

As he did with most things he put effort into, Santos was determined to be the best engineer he could be. He split his time between work, school, and trying to squeeze in whatever gym time he could throughout. He’d get so tired that sometimes, when he was driving from one place to the other, he’d realize he was so out of it that had to pull over and take naps.

The experience wasn’t all bad. But it wasn’t his calling, either.

“My grandpa put me as a construction worker, and that’s the part I actually liked,” Santos said with a laugh. “I had to cut things, to work out, sweat, under the sun. I enjoyed that. But when he put me in an office to sit there all day, that’s when I said I couldn’t do it anymore.

“All of it was great for me, because it made my path, what I need to be, that much clearer. There’s no point in deciding I want to be something else, because I have this thing. I put it in my mind that I want to be the best at whatever I do, but it’s about what you enjoy, too. I was born doing sports. My mom had me doing physical activity at 3. So to, all of a sudden, spend my days in an office? No way.”

Santos had already been plotting his return to fighting, maybe teaching classes or opening his own gym, when his friend, Leonardo Augusto Leleco, invited him to join him in Miami to help him train for his own UFC debut. He went, mostly looking to feel things out.

“A friend and I arrived at the gym, in the middle of the night, and as soon as I saw it, I felt something different,” Santos said. “My heart said, ‘It’s time to start training to be a champion again. This is your life.’”

For Santos, that meant being away from the things he enjoyed the most – his family, his house, his pets. But the sacrifice also meant that he was able to give it his all in training. After a while, UFC fighter Cezar Mutante and the MMA Masters coaches were able to get him a spot at WSOF, now re-branded as PFL, and the rest is history.

Well, kind of. Between then and Thursday’s PFL 3 event at Charles E. Smith Center in Washington D.C., there were other bumps in the road.

Santos was first told his debut was supposed to be in June 2016. That ended up being changed to August of that year. Then, it was September. When his opponent got hurt, he was rescheduled for October. And, when that entire event got scrapped, he was placed on WSOF’s 2016 year-ending card.

Santos took it all as a test from the universe.

“I said I wasn’t leaving until I fought,” Santos said. “I think God, whatever it was, said, ‘Let’s test him to the fullest. If he doesn’t give up, we’ll get him a fight on the last possible day.’ And I didn’t quit.”

Santos had his debut at WSOF 34, but even that involved a bit of a scare: He was told he had time before his fight with Vagab Vagabov, but had barely started warming up when they came for him. He was rushed onto the cage, his head still in the locker room, when his experience leading with adverse scenarios once more proved handy.

“I thought, ‘I’ve been here for a year, looking for a fight, and I’m going to give up because I didn’t warm up?’” Santos recalled. “I wasn’t able to do my best, but at least I won.”

Santos took a split decision, going on to take a unanimous call over Rex Harris at “PFL: Everett” in July 2017. At PFL 3, he competes in his first bout of PFL’s inaugural regular season, hoping to make it to the playoffs and, ultimately, compete for the $1 million prize that will be handed to the final winner in each division.

For Santos, this is nothing short of a dream. For long, he wished to be part of a format in which the factor that determines the winner is how intelligently they conduct themselves – be it in their fights or, even, in training throughout the competition.

It took a detour and some frustration. But, in hindsight, one can see why a re-focused Santos would look fondly at his misfortunes.

“I’m happy,” Santos said. “It’s a great event. I’m living a dream, and it’s really cool to be able to make the most of this opportunity. I will try to give it my all in every fight. I’ve been hard at training. I’ve been training a lot more than before. I’m feeling a lot better than before.

“I think now it’s the time. It’s my turn. Being champion or not will depend on how I do in the fights, but now is the time, and I’m ready.”

For more on PFL 3, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.