Thiago Santos and Jamahal Hill meet at the busy intersection of the UFC light heavyweight top 10 on Saturday night. Santos vs. Hill headlines UFC Fight Night as the promotion returns to its home base at the Apex in Las Vegas.
It was just three years ago that Santos (22-10) eliminated a seemingly unhinged Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight championship. Santos has struggled since that night where he tore ligaments in both knees requiring extended layoffs and rehabilitation. The split-decision loss to Jones ended a four-fight winning streak — including a TKO win over John Blachocz — and jumped to a modest 1-4 run. Santos took a nosedive at opponents like Aleksandar Rakic and Magomed Ankaliev for taking a measured approach. He invited Hull to stand by the hammer and trade.
“He’s a tough competitor,” Santos told reporters at media day on Wednesday. “Aggressive. He has some KOs, but I have the most KOs in this division in the UFC. So let’s see what’s going to happen. Let’s punch each other. Let’s kick each other. Let’s see. Who is going to stand?
“We’re both KO guys, but some fights before guys are aggressive, but I don’t know what happened, when they fight me they’re different. They try to take me down, they’re a strategic fight. Try to fight. I can’t say about me. I can say about myself. I promise I’ll keep going. I’m going to knock him out and this fight will be different than my last fight. “
Hill (10-1, 1 NC) suffered a quick submission loss to the crafty Paul Craig in June 2021. Subsequent first-round knockouts of Johnnie Walker and Jimmy Crott are extremely impressive, but questions remain about Hill’s ability to fight the odds. Hill claims that a more mature version of “Sweet Dreams” emerged from Craig’s loss of his nightmare.
“I think so [Santos] is a dangerous guy,” Hill said Wednesday. “I feel like he still has that danger and that’s got to be respected. People always talk about the Paul Craig thing. I learned to respect the game. He will have this honor. Know that honor comes with great pain and punishment.
“I train him to be the best fighter in the world. It goes with the respect of the sport. I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh, he’s not the Thiago he used to be, the old Thiago.’ Even if it was still Thiago Santos stepping in front of Jon Jones, I’d still scream his ass.
Here is the fight card for UFC Fight Night with the latest odds. Caesars Sportsbook.
UFC fight night card, odds
| Jamal Hill-310 |
Thiago Santos +250 |
Light heavyweight |
|
Vicente Luque -170 |
Geoff Neal +145 |
Welterweight |
|
Zac Pauga -260 |
Muhammad Usman +210 |
Heavyweight |
|
Julianna Miller -120 |
Brogan Walker +100 |
Women’s flyweight |
|
Sergei Spivac -270 |
Augusto Sakai +220 |
Heavyweight |
| Erin Lipsky -170 | Priscila Cachoeira +145 | Women’s flyweight |
UFC Fight Night viewing information
History: August 6 | Start Time: 10 p.m. ET
Location: UFC Apex — Las Vegas, Nevada
TV Channel: UFC Fight Pass
prediction
Thiago Santos vs Jamal Hill: A quick look at their records would suggest that Hull is on the rise and Santos is on the way out. This is an oversimplification. In the past three years, Santos has lost to two world champions (Jones and Glover Teixeira) and two future title challengers (Rakic and Ancalif). A more troubling identifier is Santos’ inability to pull the trigger in his last three fights. The man who lost to Jones and Teixeira almost beat them both. The freshman version of Santos looked quiet in losses to Encalef and Rakic, and even won a decision over Johnnie Walker. Hill, in contrast, is full of explosiveness. Both light heavyweights have the power to finish a fight, but Hill has been the one to show it in recent performances. It’s a significant step up from Hill but he can win with a mindset. Hill by TKO 3.