Jamahal Hill further elevated himself as a contender on Saturday when he defeated Thiago Santos in the UFC on ESPN 40 main event.
Hill (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) kept his momentum rolling with a fourth-round TKO over former title challenger Santos (22-11 MMA, 14-10 UFC) in the light heavyweight headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Thiago Santos refuses to be overly harsh on himself after another difficult loss in the UFC on ESPN 40 main event.
Santos (22-11 MMA, 14-10 UFC) suffered his fifth loss in his past six fights on Saturday when he succumbed to a fourth-round TKO loss against Jamahal Hill (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in a back-and-forth fight at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The bout received Fight of the Night honors, but ultimately “Marreta” didn’t get the result he wanted.
The past few years have generated some disappointing defeats for Santos, but the Brazilian said he’s determined to keep pushing forward and show that he can be better inside the octagon (via Twitter):
I worked hard and I had a amazing training camp, i let everything there and still wasn’t enough, no shame about that, just a bad night in the office, congratulations to Hill. I will be back stronger and better. Thank you all
After pushing then-champ Jon Jones to the brink of a split decision at UFC 239 in July 2019, Santos has never been able to capture his momentum back. He suffered serious injuries to both knees in that fight the required surgery, and kept him out of action for 16 months.
Santos has lost four of five since then, dropping bouts to Hill, Glover Teixeira, Aleksandar Rakic and Magomed Ankalaev. His lone win was a decision over Johnny Walker that was heavily criticized for its lack of action.
Check out the UFC on ESPN 40 | UFC Vegas 59 results below.
Main Card
- Jamahal Hill def. Thiago Santos via fourth-round TKO (2:31)
- Geoff Neal def. Vicente Luque via third-round KO (2:01)
- Mohammed Usman def. Zac Pauga via second-round KO (0:36)
- Juliana Miller def. Brogan Walker via third-round TKO (3:58)
- Serghei Spivac def. Augusto Sakai via second-round TKO (3:42)
- Terrance McKinney def. Erick Gonzalez via sub (RNC) (R1, 2:17)
Preliminary Card
- Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Sam Alvey via first-round KO (1:56)
- Bryan Battle def. Takashi Sato via first-round KO (0:44)
- Cory McKenna def. Miranda Granger via sub (von flue choke) (R2, 1:03)
- Mayra Bueno Silva def. Stephanie Egger via sub (armbar) (R1, 1:17)