In the UFC Fight Night main event, Magomed Ankalaev extended his winning streak to eight with a five-round unanimous decision over former light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos.
Scores were 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 for the No.6-ranked Ankalaev, now 17-1. The No.5-ranked Santos falls to 22-10.
There was little action in the first 90 seconds, and Ankalaev ended that stalemate with a couple right hands that hit their mark and got Santos’ attention. Three minutes in and it was a left that momentarily wobbled the Brazilian, who wasn’t able to get his own offense in gear in the first five minutes.
Both got busier to start round two, but Santos still wasn’t landing anything of note while Ankalaev got in a nice right hand-left kick combination. In the closing 30 seconds, though, Santos might have stolen the round with a left hand over the top that dropped the Russian.
With the fight likely even on the scorecards, the pair had three rounds to pull ahead and take the fight, and each combatant upped their work rate but neither was able to make a definitive statement to win the round.