Magomed Ankalaev vs. Thiago Santos full fight video highlights

Watch Magomed Ankalaev vs. Thiago Santos full fight video highlights from their main event clash at UFC Vegas 50, courtesy of UFC and other outlets.

UFC Vegas 50 took place March 12 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. Light heavyweight contenders Magomed Ankalaev (17-1) and Thiago Santos (22-10) collided in the main event, which aired live on ESPN+.

Catch the video highlights below.

For more on Ankalaev vs. Santos, check out the live blog by MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew.

Round 1: Ankalaev comes out in southpaw, Santos in orthodox. Both men being very patient to start, with neither making any substantive moves for the first minute of the bout.

Ankalaev beings to take the initiative, coming forward cautiously and Santos lands a couple of calf kicks to the lead leg. Tons of feints from Santos and Ankalaev is just trying to find his way in.

Santos sets up a heater for Ankalaev, but Ankalaev falls and hits a counter with a cheeky joke that fumbles Santos temporarily. He backs off and resets.

Ankalaev is really taking his time and Santos waits for him to make a commitment to do something to counter. Ankalaev lands a front kick. A few seconds later, Santos charges forward with a huge combo. Ankalaev ducks underneath and counters Santos with another counter. That’s twice now that Ankalaev has baited Santos in and the countered him.

More slow pressure from Ankalaev and the round is slowly ticking away without much of consequence happening. Ankalaev seems to be bringing Santos back on the fence, but it is clear that he only wants Santos to take offense and counter him.

So Many feints.

Nothing of note happens before the horn sounds. Yeesh. Hope things pick up.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Ankalaev.

Round 2: Quicker pressure out of the gate from Ankalaev and more motion from Santos but still low on offense. Santos trying to keep his back off the fence more this round but he’s still getting backed up.Santos is upping his kicking volume and he’s landed a couple of good low kicks. Those have been his best weapon by far.

Ankalaev quickly becomes irritating to observe. He is getting what he wants from a positioning standpoint but he is absolutely refusing to throw anything until Santos throws. Santos doesn’t bite so it is basically a stare contest halfway through each round.

Santos occasionally throws kicks. Ankalaev is limited to throwing feints. Someone should do something for the love of all things.

FINALLY. Santos takes a kick from Ankalaev and counters. Ankalaev then grabs Santos with an overhead kick, as Santos backs away. Santos gets an arm up but it still lands.

Again, nothing happens for more than a minute. With short time, Santos lands a left hook over the top that drops Ankalaev! Santos wins the round with a left hook over the top that Ankalaev seems to be okay.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Santos, 19-19 overall.

Round 3: Well, at least something happened finally but Ankalaev appears fine at the start of this round. Perhaps it will put a fire under Ankalaev to actually try and win the fight.

Ankalaev presses again and scores a head kick as Santos returns to his cage. Santos is fine though and he’s working leg kicks and movement, waiting for a big counter.

A good teep by Ankalaev for the body gets Santos going again, but Ankalaev lands a leg kick. He is doing nothing to stop those. Ankalaev does not do much in the general sense, but he is doing little to protect leg kicks.

Santos appears to have a speed advantage and that might be what is flummoxing Ankalaev but three minutes in and he finally decides to start throwing stuff and the two exchange some combinations that just miss landing, including a spinning back kick from Ankalaev.

Ankalaev scores another great body kick. He’s had a couple of those this round. Santos still going with leg kicks and honestly, it’s probably winning him the fight. Ankalaev checks a leg kick that opens up a cut on his shin. Santos attempts to strike something a little bit later in the round, but Ankalaev counters and they come very close to hitting each other.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Santos, 29-28 Santos overall.

Round 4: Round 3 could have gone either way but I refuse to score a round for someone who seems actively disinterested in putting forth offense.

Not the problem for either man this round though. Santos and Ankalaev both come out swinging in this round, and it’s no surprise that a fight quickly breaks out! Santos supports Ankalaev, and he takes a leap knee! Ankalaev returns fire! After the exchange Ankalaev appears to have won because Santos abandons his new aggressive tactic and starts backing up again and again, Ankalaev seems content to oblige. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Uh oh. Santos just took a DEEP breath and there are still 3 minutes left in this round. This is not good. And he then decides to go for it and eats a clean counter from Ankalaev. If Ankalaev simply committed to offense, he could probably start breaking Santos right now but he is still being very cautious. He does land another body shot though. It may have been paying off for him.

Santos starting to really try to land big shots now and every time he does, Ankalaev makes him pay for it.

With a minute left, Ankalaev ducks a punch and gets a bodylock on Santos, driving him to the cage and landing some knees. As Santos tries to rotate off the fence, Ankalaev gets an easy takedown and he’s in top half, landing some elbows until the horn sounds.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Ankalaev, 38-38 overall.

Round 5: By my card, this round will determine the winner and it appears that Ankalaev is the fresher fighter. These rounds were all close and scores could have been almost anything. Each man should finish it.

A lot of motion without any real action. That’s from both men. Leg kicks from both sides after nearly a minute of feinting. Neither man looking particularly intent on making a statement here. This very much looks like two men who don’t won’t to lose.

Honestly, nothing much has happened through half the round. There were some strikes, but nothing significant and the round was all about singles. Ankalaev finally comes in and gets a body lock, forcing Santos to the fence where he starts kneeing the thighs. If Ankalaev has designs on a light heavyweight title shot, this ain’t the way.

Santos can’t get off the fence and Ankalaev appears happy to try and ride out a win here. There was a lot of pummeling, and Ankalaev nearly got a trip takedown. But Santos manages to keep it from happening. 40 seconds left and we are wall-and-stalling . So many baby knees. This fight is awful.

Mercifully is the last horn sound.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Ankalaev, 48-47 Ankalaev overall.

Official decision: Magomed Ankalaev defeats Thiago Santos by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47).