WICHITA, Kan. – Six straight wins. Three knockouts – flying knees and spinning hook kicks included. Three “Fight of the Night” bonuses. Only one UFC loss – in a razor-thin split-decision.

And yet it is only now, almost four years after his UFC debut, that Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos is getting his first spot in a main card.

Puzzled as to why that is? Well, maybe this Twitter thread will help illuminate you a bit. But know that you’re not alone. When it comes to figuring out why it’s taken so long to earn some attention and respect, dos Santos’ own guess is as good as anyone else’s.

The way dos Santos sees it, though, there are two ways to look at it. Yes, he told MMA Junkie, he does believe he should have been in the main card earlier. But rather than dwell on that, he’d rather focus on the fact that now he is – in a co-main event spot, no less.

And if it’s true that good things come to those who wait, dos Santos is hoping his patience will lead to a bigger – the biggest, really – reward in the not-so-distant future.

“I’m coming off great fights, I don’t understand why (the attention took so long),” dos Santos said. “But, anyway, sooner or later it would happen. Now, I’m doing the second most important fight in the card and it’s inevitable. And it will also be inevitable for them to give me a title shot in one or two fights.”

And yes, dos Santos means it when he says “one or two fights.” The welterweight’s plan right now is quite simple: Beat Curtis Millender on Saturday, get a top-five contender next and, with a solid win there, “I think it will be impossible for them to deny me a title shot.”

“Impossible” is a bold choice of word given the variables. Not only is welterweight one of the UFC’s deepest divisions, it’s also a rather tricky one. It took newly-crowned champ Kamaru Usman, for instance, an unbeaten nine-fight run before finally getting his shot.

On the bright side, if dos Santos does succeed in two-fight plan, his streak won’t be too far behind Usman’s. Sure, dos Santos doesn’t have the champ’s unblemished record, but his sole UFC loss was a split decision in his debut, against Nicolas Dalby – and it was a close enough call that dos Santos to this day contests it and counts as a win.

Of course, there are ways of fast-tracking one’s way to the title. Colby Covington, for instance, was on a shorter five-fight winning streak when he earned his stab at the interim title – and while he was undeniably dominant in the cage, as well, one would think that his boisterous outside-the-cage persona didn’t hurt.

But it’s safe to say we shouldn’t expect dos Santos to go that route.

“I think if we talk about the philosophy of martial arts, I think what you need to show is your mental and athletic ability,” dos Santos said. “And to go in there and do what really matters, which is fighting and showing the sports’ philosophy. Not talk and talk to promote yourself. And I think my fights and my work have been doing the talking for me.”

In any case, as dos Santos (20-5 MMA, 6-1 UFC) repeatedly stressed, there’s one step he has to take care of before even thinking that far. On Saturday, at INTRUST Bank Arena, he needs to get past a tough foe in betting favorite Millender (17-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

It doesn’t take much to realize why the two were paired together. Both dos Santos and Millender have been known mostly for their striking skills, making the night’s co-headliner a strong “Fight of the Night” candidate. Millender, on his end, is anticipating a “fun one” and, looking at their styles, “Capoeira” is on the same page.

“I’m very happy to be fighting and him and to be doing this co-main event,” dos Santos said. “He’s a great athlete and this has all the makings of the best fight of the night.”

Considering we’ve seen dos Santos put on a few of those in the past, there’s little reason to doubt him. But he’s not making any promises when it comes to how it’s going to unfold. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of strategy involved, and even if he’s known to deliver fan-pleasing goods, that is not necessarily what he sets out to do.

“I’m an athlete and I’m a fighter,” dos Santos said. “I don’t go in there to necessarily put on show or to impress the fans too much. This just happens. It happens because of what I train. Everything I do in the octagon is a result of my training. There’s nothing I do in there that I just make it up on the spot. They’re practical strikes that end up resulting in good submissions and great knockouts.”

After a UFC career spent entirely in preliminary cards, dos Santos finally gets an opportunity to introduce himself to a larger audience on Saturday. For those who are just arriving, don’t let the “Capoeira” moniker fool you – whether you’re interested striking or grappling displays, he believes he’s got something for everyone.

His most important skill, though?

“Fighting with heart,” dos Santos said. “Fighting with a lot of heart, always.”

To hear more from dos Santos, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC on ESPN+ 4, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.