In a slow paced, largely uneventful light heavyweight main event, Magomed Ankalaev defeated Thiago Santos by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 203 in Las Vegas Saturday. Both fighters were cautious, throwing few combinations as they each seemed concerned about the other man's power.

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Santos' best moment came at the end of the second when he wobbled Ankalaev then caught him with a left hook high on the side of the head to drop him. With only 10 seconds left in the round though, he wasn't able to do much follow up damage. Santos started the fourth with a brief explosion of punches and a flying knee but then slowed considerably allowing Ankalaev to steal the round when he got a clinch and takedown with 30 seconds left. Ankalaev went back to the clinch to start the final round. Though unable to get another takedown he kept the clinch and worked knees to the thigh for the remainder of the fight as Santos seemed content to just defend.

Ankalaev has now won 8 straight in the UFC since dropping his debut for the company back in 2018, while Santos has lost four of his last five.