Jamahal Hill finishes Thiago Santos with strikes in grueling main event battle to cap off UFC Vegas 59

Nothing came easy but Jamahal Hill still got the job done in the UFC Vegas 59 main event.

It was an exhausting fight that lasted for every second of each round. But Hill’s determined offense eventually gave way to a torrent of punches through Thiago’s defense, which put Santos on the ground. From there, Hill just unloaded with punches on the ground until he gave referee Herb Dean no choice but to save Santos with the fight coming to an end at 2:31 in the fourth round.

“I am a tough person to stand by,” Hill stated about his victory. Hill said, “I don’t quit working. Keep working. That’s all we do is work.

“You’ll have to forget about that stuff. Although you won’t ever experience anyone like me, I have seen many like you through .”

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With a wide southpaw stance, Hill was trying to force Santos into his powerful left hand but the Brazilian was smart to circle way from any potential knockout blow early. Santos fired back with a huge overhand right that went whizzing by Hill’s head and it definitely got his attention.

Since Santos was on his backfoot Hill began to throw a quick right-hand jab. However, he had to remain alert in those moments when Hill launched a massive counter strike.

Santos decided to turn to his wrestling as the second round got started but that strategy nearly backfired as Hill shrugged off the attempts and started to land with hard punches on the inside. Santos seemed to be shaky for a moment, but Hill responded with a big shot that cracked Hill.

As the lights heavyweights were both seemingly losing steam, Santos started looking for takedowns again and while he was effective at getting Hill to the canvas, he couldn’t really control his opponent from scrambling back up to his feet again. Hill continued to do as well as possible from these positions, firing knees at the body and forcing Santos into every position.

Finally, as the fourth round began, Hill returned to his pressure game and marched forward with combinations. Santos was getting drained of his gas tank which wasn’t good for his cause. Santos turned aside during one exchange, and Hill followed with a huge punch that marked the start of the end.

With Santos retreating Hill continued to throw heavy, massive shots until one straight left hit the target. His opponent fell to the ground and he was thrown to the ground. Hill followed him to the canvas where he started blasting away with hammer fists, punches and finally a series of elbows that forced the referee to stop the contest.

The finish capped off a remarkable evening in Las Vegas with all 10 fights on the card ending by way of knockout or submission.

While this particular TKO win wasn’t the same kind of highlight reel victory that Hill had built his reputation on lately, this was arguably his strongest win to date because his stoppage came against a proven veteran like Santos.

Now that he’s beaten a top contender, Hill has his sights set on the best of the best in the light heavyweight division.

” A title shot would be great,” Hill stated. Hill said, “I have about twice the finishes of [Jiri Prochazka]”. If not, Jan Blachowicz would be nice. I’m ready to shoot up.”