Preview! Can Santos Halt Rise Of Ankalaev?

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just a few hours away from the UFC Vegas 50 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, locked and loaded for TONIGHT (Sat., March 12, 2022) from inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a light heavyweight headliner between Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev.

Check out their fight video preview embedded above.

Santos (22-9) gave former division champion Jon Jones a run for his money at UFC 239 back in summer 2019; however, the Brazilian suffered a pair of knee injuries during the bout and has struggled to maintain his winning ways. “Marreta” is coming off a victory over the free-falling Johnny Walker at UFC Vegas 38 but is just 1-3 over the last three years.

As for Ankalaev (15-1), his Octagon debut was spoiled by Paul Craig back in March 2018, but the former WFCA light heavyweight champion quickly bounced back to capture seven straight wins, four of which ended by knockout. His most recent performance was enough to vault Ankalaev to No. 6 in the official rankings, just one spot behind the hard-hitting Santos.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 50 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 50 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive here. For the updated and finalized “Santos vs. Ankalaev” fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.