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Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev meet within the gentle heavyweight important occasion of UFC Struggle Night time on Saturday in Las Vegas.
It’s a crossroads combat in some respects, because the 38-year-old Santos is almost three years faraway from an unsuccessful problem for the UFC’s 205-pound title and Ankalaev, 29, is likely one of the division’s rising contenders.
The fights on the UFC Apex will be broadcast Saturday on ESPN+, with the principle card beginning at 7 p.m. ET and the prelims at four p.m.
Santos (22-9) defeated Johnny Walker by unanimous determination in October to bounce again from three straight losses. The skid started together with his July 2019 combat towards then-champion Jon Jones. Santos is No. 9 in ESPN’s gentle heavyweight rankings.
Ankalaev (16-1) has gained seven fights in a row since dropping his UFC debut in 2018. His most up-to-date win was a unanimous determination over Volkan Oezdemir in October. Ankalaev is ranked No. eight amongst gentle heavyweights by ESPN.
Find out how to watch the fights
Stream the entire fights on ESPN+: Download the ESPN App
Haven’t got ESPN+? Get it here.
There’s additionally FightCenter, which provides stay updates for each UFC card.
Saturday combat card
ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET
Gentle heavyweight: Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev
Males’s bantamweight: Marlon Moraes vs. Song Yadong
Males’s featherweight: Sodiq Yusuff vs. Alex Caceres
Gentle heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Karl Roberson
Light-weight: Drew Dober vs. Terrance McKinney
Middleweight: Alex Pereira vs. Bruno Silva
ESPN+, four p.m. ET
Welterweight: Matthew Semelsberger vs. AJ Fletcher
Ladies’s flyweight: JJ Aldrich vs. Gillian Robertson
Males’s bantamweight: Trevin Jones vs. Javid Basharat
Males’s featherweight: Damon Jackson vs. Kamuela Kirk
Ladies’s flyweight: Sabina Mazo vs. Miranda Maverick
Middleweight: Dalcha Lungiambula vs. Cody Brundage
Males’s bantamweight: Guido Cannetti vs. Kris Moutinho
Gentle heavyweight: Tafon Nchukwi vs. Azamat Murzakanov
Ian Parker’s finest guess
Santos will probably be trying to make it two in a row if he can cease the hype practice generally known as Ankalaev. It is a nightmare matchup for Santos. The previous Santos, I’d have given an opportunity to based mostly on his putting and aggressive demeanor. Nonetheless, since his double knee surgical procedure, he’s a extra tentative fighter and does not appear to hold that very same energy in his fingers that he as soon as did. And as soon as this combat hits the ground, Santos will probably be in no man’s land and be completely dominated by Ankalaev.
For extra from Parker on this combat, together with how he sees it ending, take a look at the professional picks and finest bets article on ESPN+ on Thursday, which additionally will function evaluation by coaches and betting professional Reed Kuhn.
Prime tales
UFC finalizing Thiago Santos-Magomed Ankalaev to headline March 12 event
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