UFC Vegas 50: Santos vs Ankalaev | 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Bloody Elbow fight experts, Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado, are back, recording for you late Saturday, March 12th, 2022, to breakdown the UFC Vegas 50: ‘Santos vs. Ankalaev’ jam-packed 14-bout Fight Night event, which was simulcast in English & Spanish exclusively on ESPN+ from the APEX Center, Las Vegas, NV. The card brought us a wide array of compelling clashes in a number of relevant divisions. So, let’s check it out…

The guys have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or can be caught on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel or any of our BE Presents Podcast Network. (SPOILERS…)

The Main Event:
The UFC put their Light Heavyweights on display tonight in the Main Event of UFC Vegas 50. Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev went the distance for us. ‘Maretta’ was coming off a win against Johnny Walker at UFC Vegas 38, with a record of 22-9. Meanwhile Ankalaev, the impressive emerging Russian, was building a case for contendership, walking into the Octagon with a 16-1 record, on an impressive seven-fight win streak; this would be his first five-rounder, defining his forthcoming trajectory in the promotion.

The Co-Main:
In the co-main event, we had a Bantamweight scrap between the up-and-comer Chinese, Song Yadong from Team Alpha Male, and the Brazilian veteran, Marlon Moraes. The ‘Kung Fu Monkey’ was looking to notch a third win in a row on his belt, upping his record to 19-6 against ‘Magic’ Moraes tonight. Marlon was hoping to break his three-fight loss streak, increasing his own record to 24-9 in an effort to secure a slot in the Top 10 of the division. Song meanwhile, has been preparing hard to advance his journey towards title contention. Where the main event went to the judges scorecard, in stark contrast, the co-main was over in around two minutes. Be sure to check out the highlight reel.

Rounding out the main card, were four additional fights:

Just prior to the co-main event we saw Featherweights Sodiq ‘Super’ Yusuff vs Alex ‘Bruce Leeroy’ Caceres go at it..

We were treated to another Light Heavyweight bout, aside from the main event, from ‘The War Horse’ Khalil Rountree and Karl ‘Baby K’ Roberson (*Note, if you missed this one, look it up. This vicious street fight style beatdown was insane to watch, 5:25 of your time to watch from start to brutal finish, if you are an impatient person, just click start at the beginning of the second round and don’t blink for those 25 seconds & stick around for the post-fight interview)…

There was also a Lightweight brawl between Drew Dober and Terrance ‘T.Wrecks’ McKinney (who accepted the bout on short notice right after appearing at UFC Vegas 49 on February 23rd.)…

Also worth mentioning, was the Middleweight tilt between fellow Brazilians, Alex ‘Poatan’ ‘Pereira and Bruno ‘Blindado’ Silva in our main card opener.

Our featured prelim tonight highlighted one of many bouts on the card to go the distance, between Matt ‘Semi the Jedi’ Semelsberger and AJ ‘The Ghost’ Fletcher…

For all the results, reactions and much more detail on the main card, with plenty of tidbits about the eight-bout prelims card as well, be sure to hit play on the show to hear what our fight experts, Zane and Eddie, have to say.

Overall, this 14-bout card saw three exciting first round finishes, five thrilling KO/TKO’s, three sweet submissions, and six hard-fought decisions. Rounding things out, four fighters were awarded for putting forth POTN efforts: Song Yadong, Khalil Rountree, Cody Brundage, & Azamat Murzakanov: FOTN honors went to nobody tonight.

Here’s a look at the UFC VEGAS 50: ‘THIAGO SANTOS VS MAGOMED ANKALAEV’ fight card’s full results & updated fight records —

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. MAR 12
At 0:47 — 14. 205lbs: Magomed Ankalaev (17-1) DEF. Thiago Santos (22-10) — DEC, Unanimous (49-46×2, 48-47)

At 7:57 — 13. 135lbs: Song Yadong (19-5) DEF. Marlon Moraes (23-10) — KO/TKO, Uppercut at 2:06 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS WINNER

At 16:08 — 12. 145lbs: Sodiq Yusuff (12-2) DEF. Alex Caceres (19-13) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27×2, 29-28)

At 20:14 — 11. 205bs: Khalil Rountree (10-5) DEF. Karl Roberson (9-5) — KO/TKO, Hooks & Body Kicks at 0:25 of Rd 2, Total 5:25 — POTN BONUS WINNER

At 25:04 — 10. 155lbs: Drew Dober (24-11) DEF. Terrence McKinney (12-4) — KO/TKO, Knee to Ground Strikes at 3:17 of Rd 1

At 31:39 — 9. 185lbs: Alex Pereira (5-1) DEF. Bruno Silva (22-7) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27×3)

ESPN+ PRELIMS
At 40:24 — 8. 170lbs: Matt Semelsberger (10-3) DEF. AJ Fletcher (9-1) — DEC, Unanimous (29-28×3)

At 43:22 — 7. 125lbs: JJ Aldrich (11-4) DEF. Gillian Robertson (10-7) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27×3)

At 47:29 — 6. 135lbs: Javid Basharat (12-0) DEF. Trevin Jones (13-8) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27×2, 29-28)

At 50:26 — 5. 145lbs: Damon Jackson (20-4) DEF. Kamuela Kirk (11-5) — SUB, Arm Triangle Choke at 4:42 of Rd 2, Total 9:42

At 53:16 — 4. 125lbs: Miranda Maverick (10-4) DEF. Sabina Mazo (9-4) — SUB, Rear Naked Choke at 2:15 of Rd 2, Total 7:15

At 57:33 — 3. 185lbs: Cody Brundage (7-2) DEF. Dalcha Lungiambula (11-4) — SUB, Guillotine Choke at 3:41 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS WINNER

At 1:01:08 — 2. 135lbs: Guido Cannetti (9-6) DEF. Kris Moutinho (9-6) — KO/TKO, Punches (Standing TKO) at 2:07 of Rd 1

At 1:03:54 — 1. 205lbs: Azamat Murzakanov (11-0) DEF. Tafon Nchukwi (6-2) — KO/TKO, Flying Knee at 0:44 of Rd 3, Total 10:44 — POTN BONUS WINNER

Sunday, March 13th: Check out our video production of the show, with all new enhanced graphics to accompany the guys’ commentary, on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel right here:

At that time, timestamps will be edited into this post for your listening convenience…

Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZaneSimon & Eddie – @TheEddieMercado; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings.

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Join us again for another episode of ‘6th Round’ next Saturday, March 19th for UFC LONDON: ‘Volkov vs. Aspinall, PLUS: Arnold Allen vs. Dan Hooker‘, & more!