Top 10 contenders in the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division will step into the spotlight when Thiago Santos faces Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC Fight Night 203 main event on March 12 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Santos has lost three of his past four bouts. The onetime title challenger last appeared at UFC Fight Night 193, where he laid claim to a five-round unanimous decision over Johnny Walker in their Oct. 2 headliner. Ankalaev, meanwhile, has rattled off seven straight victories, four of them finishes. He last fought on Oct. 30, when he took a unanimous verdict from Volkan Oezdemir in their three-round UFC 267 showcase.
Ahead of the Santos-Ankalaev confrontation at 205 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
38: Years of age for Santos, who was born on Jan. 7, 1984 in Rio de Janeiro.
15: Santos victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 68% of his career total (22). His list of UFC victims: Jan Blachowicz, Jimi Manuwa, Eryk Anders, Anthony Smith, Jack Hermansson, Gerald Meerschaert, Jack Marshman, Nate Marquardt, Steve Bosse, Andy Enz and Ronny Markes. Santos owns one other victory by submission—he disposed of Eneas Souza with a third-round rear-naked choke at a Watch Out Combat Show event on Dec. 17, 2011—and six more by decision.
12: Consecutive calendar years in which Santos has fought at least once. He went 1-0 in 2010, 5-0 in 2011, 2-1 in 2012, 0-1 in 2013, 1-1 in 2014, 3-0 in 2015, 1-2 in 2016, 3-0 in 2017, 4-1 in 2018, 1-1 in 2019, 0-1 in 2020 and 1-1 in 2021.
2: Sub-minute stoppage wins to Santos’ credit. He cut down Markes with a body kick and follow-up punches in 53 seconds at UFC Fight Night 38 on March 23, 2014 and wiped out Bosse with a head kick in 29 seconds at UFC Fight Night 70 on June 27, 2015.
.770: Cumulative winning percentage between the nine men—Aleksandar Rakic, Glover Teixeira, Jon Jones, David Branch, Eric Spicely, Gegard Mousasi, Uriah Hall, Cezar Ferreira and Vicente Luque—who have defeated Santos. They boast a combined record of 208-59-3.
29: Years of age Ankalaev, who was born in Makhachkala, Russia, on June 2, 1992.
8: Ankalaev wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 53% of his career total (15). His list of UFC victims: Ion Cutelaba (twice), Dalcha Lungiambula, Klidson Abreu and Marcin Prachnio. Ankalaev holds seven other wins by decision.
15: Seconds needed for Ankalaev to punch Lloyd Marshbanks into submission under the World Fighting Championship Akhmat banner on April 9, 2016. Having occurred nearly six years ago, it remains the fastest finish of his 16-fight career.
81: Significant strikes by which Ankalaev has outlanded the opposition during his current seven-fight winning streak. He has connected on 224 such strikes while absorbing only 143 in return.
1: Loss on the Ankalaev resume. He submitted to a Paul Craig triangle choke 4:59 into the third round of their UFC Fight Night 127 encounter in March 2018.
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