UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev – Results

This weekend we had a fun fight night, as we saw some top talent delivering finishes and exciting performances; including a dominant win in the main event. 

We had quite a balanced event according to the results; with 6 matches on the main card, it was quite interesting to have 3 contests going to the judges’ scorecards, and the other 3 being KO/TKO stoppages

It’s time to break down what happened on Saturday night and see if the predictions matched the results we got.

You can check all the UFC/MMA bets, the analysis of each fighter, and the final bet you can make in future fights.

UFC Fight Night Round-Up – Santos vs. Ankalaev – Review and Fight Analysis

Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev

Our Pick: Magomed Ankalaev

Outcome: Ankalaev extends his winning streak with a dominant win via unanimous decision.

Magomed Ankalaev had his toughest test to date on Saturday when he took on former light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos. 

It wasn’t the most exciting fight of the night, but Ankalaev used precision striking mixed in with cage control and grappling to defeat Santos at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. 

Except for the end of the second round when Santos dropped Ankalaev, it was an easy night at the office for him.

He kept walking Santos down to get his back to the cage and connected on the more significant shots of the fight to extend his winning streak to eight, which is currently the most consecutive wins at light heavyweight.

Yadong Song vs. Marlon Moraes

Our Pick: Song Yadong

Outcome: Song Yadong lands a devastating uppercut knock-out in the first round.

Yadong controlled the fight for how long it lasted. 

The level of striking he was throwing was too much for Moraes. 

A right hand behind the ear, short left, and a right uppercut knocked out Moraes at the point of impact. 

That right hand is lethal and is going to be hard to stop, turning Yadong into a force to be reckoned with in the bantamweight division.

Sodiq Yusuff vs. Alex Caceres

Our Pick: Sodiq Yusuff

Outcome: Sodiq Yusuff gets a unanimous decision after punishing Caceres’ legs on 3 rounds.

Sodiq Yusuff had to make some mid-fight adjustments to take out Alex Caceres’ legs to win a unanimous decision on the UFC Apex.

Dedicated to his striking throughout the fight, Yusuff started to connect with his kicks towards the latter part of the first round, which did damage on Caceres’ lead leg. 

Yusuff stuck with that strategy the rest of the way as he wrapped up the victory, with the judges scoring the fight 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28, all in his favor.

Khalil Rountree vs. Karl Robertson

Our Pick: Khalil Rountree

Outcome: Rountree scores a vicious TKO at the start of the 2nd round.

A mean right hook starts it off as he drops Roberson, who tried to stand up. 

Rountree blasted a thudding body kick to the chest, sending Roberson back down to the mat.

Rountree unloaded the kitchen sink to send Roberson to the mat one final time for the stoppage victory.

That’s back-to-back wins for Rountree. 

Drew Dober vs. Terrance McKinney

Our Pick: Terrance McKinney

Outcome: Dober rebounds with a first-round stoppage over McKinney.

McKinney looked to have Dober finished in the first minute of the fight as he dropped him and landed a barrage of shots. 

However, Dober used his experience to not force anything and was able to get out of trouble. 

They got in the clinch, and a knee to the chin dropped McKinney. 

Dober seized the moment and pounced on McKinney to land a barrage of shots to score the stoppage at the 3rd minute and 17 seconds of the first round.

Alex Pereira vs. Bruno Silva

Our Pick: Alex Pereira

Outcome: Pereira Dominates Silva and gets an exciting unanimous decision.

This match was an exciting back and forth between two fighters who left their heart on the Octagon. 

It came down to the striking, and Pereira had the upper in that department. 

He battered and bruised Silva, getting the fifth win in his record.

The Aftermath: Making a statement to place himself as the next title challenger.

Like most UFC events, there was only one miss in our main card predictions, as we got 5 out of 6 fights correct this weekend, so we are going strong and consistent.

Ankalaev told Paul Felder that he felt like he deserved a title fight during his post-fight interview. 

The statement was made during his performance, and Dana White will likely be considering making that fight happen sooner than later.