Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, March 12th, ‘UFC Vegas 50: Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev’ Fight Night event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.
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…
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June M. Williams
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.
“I wanted to fight five rounds and see if I’m ready to go all the way to the top.” – Ankalaev on if the Santos fight went to plan. #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
“I feel that I deserve a title fight.” – Magomed Ankalaev #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
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.
“Our first round was actually planned for defense, mostly.” – Song Yadong on his first round KO over Marlon Moraes #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
“I want fight next, Dominick Cruz, if he want. I have a lot of respect for him.” – Song Yadong with the callout of the former champ. #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
Don’t want to read too much into Moraes taking his gloves off in the background there, but wouldn’t blame the guy if he was thinking about walking away right now. #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
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..
“To be honest, I really want to test myself against Arkansas finest. I think me and Bryce would put on a really cool fight.” – Sodiq Yusuff calls out Bryce Mitchell. #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
We were treated to another Light Heavyweight bout, aside from the main event, from ‘The War Horse’ Khalil Rountree and Karl ‘Baby K’ Roberson…
“This month marks 12 years that I’ve been fighting MMA. I don’t want to wait until I’m a champion to tell my story of where I come from, being a 300 lb kid on the brink of suicide…” – Khalil Rountree wants to inspire people with his performances in the cage. #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
“I wanna make a difference in the world man, that’s something I’m passionate about. That violence just comes from my passion to make a change.” – Khalil Rountree #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
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.)…
“There’s a guy out there, Bobby Green, I’m interested.” – Drew Dober calls out Bobby Green. #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
Also worth mentioning, was the Middleweight tilt between fellow Brazilians, Alex Poatan’ ‘Pereira and Bruno ‘Blindado’ Silva in our main card opener.
“I’ve seen Cannonier doing a great job, almost in the line for the title, I would love to face him.” – Alex Pereira calls out Jared Cannonier. #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
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…
“It’s nice when you get an opponent like him, because it makes you want to train hard.” – Matthew Semelsberger on AJ Fletcher. #UFCVegas50
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 13, 2022
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: Khalil Rountree, Cody Brundage, Song Yadong & 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
14. 205lbs: Magomed Ankalaev (17-1) DEF. Thiago Santos (22-10) — DEC, Unanimous (49-46×2, 48-47)
13. 135lbs: Song Yadong (19-5) DEF. Marlon Moraes (23-10) — KO/TKO, Uppercut at 2:06 of Rd 1
12. 145lbs: Sodiq Yusuff (12-2) DEF. Alex Caceres (19-13) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27×2, 29-28)
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
10. 155lbs: Drew Dober (24-11) DEF. Terrence McKinney (12-4) — KO/TKO, Knee to Ground Strikes at 3:17 of Rd 1
9. 185lbs: Alex Pereira (5-1) DEF. Bruno Silva (22-7) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27×3)
ESPN+ PRELIMS
8. 170lbs: Matt Semelsberger (10-3) DEF. AJ Fletcher (9-1) — DEC, Unanimous (29-28×3)
7. 125lbs: JJ Aldrich (11-4) DEF. Gillian Robertson (10-7) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27×3)
6. 135lbs: Javid Basharat (12-0) DEF. Trevin Jones (13-8) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27×2, 29-28)
5. 145lbs: Damon Jackson (20-4) DEF. Kamuela Kirk (11-5) — SUB, Arm Triangle Choke at 4:42 of Rd 2, Total 9:42
4. 125lbs: Miranda Maverick (10-4) DEF. Sabina Mazo (9-4) — SUB, Rear Naked Choke at 2:15 of Rd 2, Total 7:15
3. 185lbs: Cody Brundage (7-2) DEF. Dalcha Lungiambula (11-4) — SUB, Guillotine Choke at 3:41 of Rd 1
2. 135lbs: Guido Cannetti (9-6) DEF. Kris Moutinho (9-6) — KO/TKO, Punches (Standing TKO) at 2:07 of Rd 1
1. 205lbs: Azamat Murzakanov (11-0) DEF. Tafon Nchukwi (6-2) — KO/TKO, Flying Knee at 0:44 of Rd 3, Total 10:44
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!