5 fights for Thiago Santos after UFC Vegas 50 loss
Thiago Santos suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Magomed Ankalaev on Saturday. While he had won his most recent bout prior, he is now on a 1-4 run and will be looking to bounce back in his next fight. It will be interesting to see where the 38-year-old former title challenger goes from here.
:#UFCVegas50 Official Result: Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) defeats Thiago Santos by Unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
See all #UFCVegas50 results ⤵️:
ufc.com/news/ufc-fight…
Santos will remain a ranked fighter and proved he can still beat other top 15 fighters in his recent win over Johnny Walker. On his day, Santos can be as good as anyone in the division as we saw when he fought Jon Jones to a split decision defeat back in 2019.
With that being said, his recent performances have not been up to that level and he will likely face a lower-ranked opponent in his next bout because of that. Here are five fights for Thiago Santos after UFC Vegas 50:
#5. Thiago Santos vs. Volkan Oezdemir
Volkan Oezdemir is in many ways the forgotten man of the UFC light heavyweight division. He fought for the title back in 2018 and and has defeated the likes of Aleksandar Rakic since then, but he is now on a two-fight losing streak. He's also been fairly inactive recently, fighting just twice in the last two years.
No Time left!
Send @Volkan_Oezdemir your birthday wishes. https://t.co/UcMSZphUvn
This has put Oezdemir in somewhat of a similar position to Santos. Both are clearly incredible fighters on their day but haven't fought to their potential for a little while now. Due to this, now could be the perfect time to match these fighters up, if for no other reason but to create some room in the division.
The two fighters have occupied a top 10 spot in the rankings for years but haven't shown they are deserving of that spot for some time. This match-up would allow the UFC to see who may still have another run in them and who needs a more significant drop down in the level of competition.