Santos vs. Hill Preview
The UFC is heading back to the Apex in Las Vegas for UFC Vegas 59 on Saturday August 6th. The main event will be a hard hitting fight in the light heavyweight division between former title challenger #6 Thiago Santos and surging contender #10 Jamahal Hill.
Santos is trying to rebound from a lopsided unanimous decision loss to Mogomed Ankalaev in March. The former title challenger has one win in his last five fights and is in desperate need of a victory if he wants to stay in the top 10 at light heavyweight.
The Brazilian fighter was on a four-fight winning streak which earned him a shot at the title against Jon Jones in 2019 where he lost the fight by a close split decision. Some people believe he won the fight but at this point so much has changed in the division with champions and top contenders, his fight against Jones feels like it was a decade ago.
The 38-year-old is looking forward to having a good fight with an up and comer like Hill. “Facing scary guys like him really motivates me,’ Santos said. “Hill is a tall guy, very aggressive and walks forward all the time. Jiri Prochazka, Hill, those are exactly the type of opponents I like to face. I truly hope he fights against me like he fought Johnny Walker and Jimmy Crute. If I don’t knock him out by the second round, he will be punished for five rounds.”
Santos has studied what worked well for Hill in his last fight and does not believe his opponent will be able to bring the same strategy into the fight on Saturday. "Walker was fighting well but was surprised when Hill changed his southpaw stance to orthodox and ended up being caught,” Santos said. “That’s not my case. I also fight in both stances. If he changes stances, it is no surprise to me. In that chess match, I see myself having the advantage in all areas — better striking, heavier puncher, better in wrestling, jiu-jitsu and also more experienced.”
The man known as Marreta went on to explain how he doesn’t see the fight not ending in a finish. “Of course, this is MMA. Hill is a very talented kid with knockout power and deserves all my respect, but I truly see myself winning this one via knockout or submission.”
Santos has key wins in his career over Johnny Walker, Jan Blachowicz, Jimi Manuwa, Eryk Anders, Kevin Holland, Anthony Smith, Jack Hermansson and Nate Marquardt. A win over a surging contender like Hill will keep his hopes alive to go on one last run at the title.
Hill is coming off a highlight reel knockout of Johnny Walker in February. He has won two straight since suffering his first loss back in June of 2021. The 31-year-old is looking for a dominant win on Saturday.
“I’m going to finish Santos,” Hill said. “I can’t control how much he can take, but I can control how much I can put on him. So it doesn’t matter how long it takes, but I’m going to put pressure on him until he breaks.”
Hill believes this is the fight that will put him on the straight line to a title shot. “This fight is exactly what I’ve been waiting for,” Hill says. “He’s somebody I’ve had an eye on, and now it’s my time.”
“After this fight and one against another top-five guy, I’ll get my title shot.”
Hill is not looking beyond Santos and is focused on getting the biggest win of his career. “Everybody has strengths, but my strengths are different,” Hill says. “A lot of people still don’t respect me the way they should, which is why they fall to me.
“But I’m not focused on anyone but Santos. I’m focusing on the things I can control. I signed this contract, and now it’s time for me to go in there and win this fight.”
A win for Hill would be the biggest of his career and it puts him one more win away from being considered for a title shot. There is plenty to be determined considering which fighters are ahead of him in the rankings, but Santos represents the victory he needs to be considered a serious threat to challenge for a championship.
The rest of the main card:
Welterweight - #6 Vicente Luque vs. #13 Geoff Neal
Heavyweight - Zac Pauga vs. Mohammed Usman
Women's Flyweight - Brogan Walker-Sanchez vs. Juliana Miller
Heavyweight - #14 Augusto Sakai vs. Sergey Spivak
Women's Flyweight - Ariane Lipski vs. Priscila Cachoeira
ESPN Prelims:
Middleweight - Sam Alvey vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk
Welterweight - Takashi Sato vs. Bryan Battle
Lightweight - Terrance McKinney vs. Erick Gonzalez
Welterweight - Jason Witt vs. Josh Quinlan
Women's Strawweight - Miranda Granger vs. Cory McKenna
Women's Bantamweight - Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Stephanie Egger
