In two months, Glover Teixeira will defend his UFC light heavyweight championship for the first time against the surging Jiri Prochazka. But in the meantime, the battle for position as the next title challenger is already heating up.
Thiago Santos stopped a three-fight skid in October 2021 by defeating Johnny Walker, but that three-fight losing streak is deceiving. Santos (22-9) lost to then-champion Jon Jones by split decision at UFC 239, becoming the only fighter to date to win a judge's scorecard against Jones in his career. Then he lost to the current champ, Teixeira. And in March 2021, Santos dropped a decision to another top-five light heavyweight, Aleksandar Rakic, with 29-28 on two scorecards.
On Saturday, Santos looks to continue to rebuild his momentum in a Fight Night main event against Magomed Ankalaev. Since losing his UFC debut to Paul Craig in March 2018, Ankalaev (16-1) has rattled off seven straight victories, most recently against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 267 in October 2021.
As Santos and Ankalaev look to build their respective résumés for a light heavyweight title push, who will come out on top? ESPN's Marc Raimondi reached out to Eddie Cha, the striking coach for Fight Ready, to break down this matchup between well-known strikers.
Additionally, Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker added their betting insights for everything from the main event through the rest of the UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev card.
Light heavyweight: Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev
Eddie Cha, Fight Ready striking coach
