The Ultimate Fighting Championship headed back to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada today for UFC Fight Night 203: “Santos vs Ankalaev.” The event was headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Thiago “Marreta” Santos, who looked to get back into contention, and Magomed Ankalaev.
In the bantamweight co-feature, “Magic” Marlon Moraes took on Yadong “Kung Fu Monkey” Song. Elsewhere on today’s main card, “Super” Sodiq Yusuff squared off against Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres in a featherweight matchup. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for UFC Fight Night 203.
Magomed Ankalaev vs Thiago “Marreta” Santos
Round 1:
Ankalaev wobbled Santos with a lead right hook to the temple after an uneventful opening minute. Santos recovered quickly and Ankalaev did not follow up. When Santos stepped forward with looping punches, Ankalaev cracked him with a left cross. Santos kept his distance and landed one leg kick, but that was it and nothing transpired in the final 30 seconds. Lacklustre round. 10-9 Ankalaev.
Round 2:
Santos kicked at Ankalaev’s lead leg, which began to redden around the knee area, but both men remained very cautious. Ankalaev landed one body kick and Santos threw one in return. A lead right hook scored for Ankalaev and he went high with a head kick, which was blocked. Ankalaev landed a lead right hook, but Santos hurt him with a counter left hand and dropped him with another left behind the ear. Santos took top position on the ground for the final few seconds. 10-9 Santos due to the late knockdown.
Round 3:
Ankalaev landed a counter right hook as Santos moved forward in the third round. Another prolonged lull in the action followed until Ankalaev landed a body kick and narrowly avoided a right hook from Santos. Ankalaev caught a body kick and landed a counter left hook. The fighters exchanged leg kicks and Santos landed two hard ones. Late in the round, Ankalaev scored with a body kick and a left hook. 10-9 Ankalaev.
Round 4:
Santos was much more aggressive in the fourth round, and he lunged forward with a left hook and a flying switch knee. Ankalaev circled to his right and landed a left cross, which Santos answered with a leg kick. He landed a right-left combo, but appeared to be fatigued and Ankalaev grazed with a head kick. He connected with a lead right hook and clinched with Santos in the final minute. He tripped Santos to the mat and landed short forearm strikes from Santos’s half-guard. 10-9 Ankalaev.
Round 5:
In the final round, Ankalaev landed a liver kick and Santos answered with a leg kick. Ankalaev landed a left cross and backed up to avoid a counter right hook from Santos. Ankalaev clinched and held Santos against the cage. This continued all the way until the final bell, with Ankalaev landing knees to Santos’s thighs and not much else. Very poor main event fight on an otherwise great card. 10-9 Ankalaev.
Winner: Magomed Ankalaev by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) after five rounds. He improves to 16-1-0.
Yadong “Kung Fu Monkey” Song vs “Magic” Marlon Moraes
Round 1:
Song dropped Moraes to a knee with an early right hook and he continued to pressure Moraes with right hands after Moraes stood back up. Moraes landed a right cross and a combination, but Song turned his lights out with a three-punch flurry that ended with an uppercut. Moraes crashed backwards to the mat and the fight was stopped.
Winner: Yadong Song by KO (Punches) at 2:06 of round one. He improves to 19-6-1, 1 NC.
“Super” Sodiq Yusuff vs Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres
Round 1:
Caceres landed an early leg kick and a left hook, then took Yusuff down into back control. Yusuff scrambled free and stood up, and he dumped Caceres to the mat after catching a body kick. Yusuff stood over Caceres, who rose to his feet against the cage. Yusuff landed a leg kick and Caceres countered with a pair of step-in left hooks. Yusuff clinched and took Caceres’s back. He suplexed Caceres down, but Caceres immediately stood up and broke free from Yusuff’s grasp. Yusuff landed a right hook to the body and took Caceres’s back again. He kneed Caceres in the thigh, but Caceres spun and hopped on Yusuff’s back. Yusuff shook him off and the back-and-forth round ended in a clinch. 10-9 Yusuff.
Round 2:
Both men landed combinations in the second round and Caceres prevented Yusuff from closing the distance by clipping him with a lead right hook. Yusuff landed a leg kick and Caceres answered with two straight lefts. After two hard leg kicks from Yusuff, Caceres threw a body kick and followed with two hooks. Yusuff kicked out Caceres’s leg, but allowed him to stand. Caceres began to limp after taking another kick from Yusuff, who caught a body kick and countered with a right hook. Yusuff landed two more leg kicks late in the round. 10-9 Yusuff.
Round 3:
Yusuff focused his attacks on Caceres’s lead leg in the final round, but Caceres connected with a nice right hook and followed with a left cross. He landed a spinning back kick to Yusuff’s body and then attempted a takedown. Yusuff easily fought it off and he backed Caceres up with a counter right hook. A head kick landed for Yusuff and he resumed kicking Caceres’s damaged right leg. Yusuff dropped Caceres with a leg kick, then clinched with him against the cage after Caceres stood up. Caceres circled away and Yusuff landed a right hook, then tried unsuccessfully to pull Caceres to the mat with a guillotine choke. 10-9 Yusuff.
Winner: Sodiq Yusuff by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 12-2-0.
Khalil “The War Horse” Rountree vs Karl “Baby K” Roberson
Round 1:
Rountree maintained a low stance and he landed two left hooks early in the fight. Roberson replied with a head kick and a body kick. The pace slowed and the fighters exchanged leg kicks, with Roberson’s having considerably more force behind them. Rountree caught a body kick and dumped Roberson to the mat, but he allowed him to stand and Roberson landed another hard leg kick. Very little happened in the next minute until Rountree caught another body kick and he landed two left hands in return. Another combination scored for Rountree late in the back-and-forth round. 10-9 Roberson by a slim margin.
Round 2:
Rountree dropped Roberson with a lead right hook in the opening seconds of round two. Roberson got back to his feet, only to be dropped again by a knee. As Roberson stood up, Rountree landed a body kick. He followed with a right hook to Roberson’s temple, which dropped Roberson to his knees and ended the fight.
Winner: Khalil Rountree by TKO (Punch) at 0:25 of round two. He improves to 10-5-0, 1 NC.
Drew Dober vs Terrance “T.Wrecks” McKinney
Round 1:
McKinney rocked and dropped Dober with punches right away and he landed more punches and a head kick as Dober got back to his feet. McKinney hurt him again and Dober shot in for a takedown. McKinney reversed it into top position and punched from the top. Dober was able to get back to his feet, but McKinney ducked under a Dober right hook and took him down. He punched from Dober’s guard until Dober kicked him off. As Dober stood up, McKinney landed a head kick. Time was called to replace McKinney’s mouthpiece. Action resumed and Dober landed a knee in a Thai clinch. McKinney fell to his back and covered up as Dober stood over him and landed numerous punches until the frenetic fight was stopped.
Winner: Drew Dober by TKO (Knee & Punches) at 3:17 of round one. He improves to 24-11-0, 1 NC.
Alex “Poatan” Pereira vs Bruno “Blindado” Silva
Round 1:
Pereira kicked at Silva’s lead leg and body from a distance and Silva responded with a one-two. Pereira landed two hooks and a knee, then a Silva right hook. Silva scored with three looping hooks that led to a clinch, where both men landed knees to the body. Silva just missed with a head kick after the fighters separated and he took Pereira down. Pereira worked back to his feet, but he ate punches and a knee from Silva on the way up. Silva jabbed and Pereira landed a hard left hook. He followed up with two more punches and a knee, but Silva circled away to his right and the bell sounded. Close round. 10-9 Silva.
Round 2:
After an exchange of jabs, the fighters traded combinations in the second round. Silva landed a nice left cross and Pereira answered with a right. Silva began to attack the body with his punches and he countered a Pereira left hook with a takedown into back control. Pereira quickly rose to his feet and escpaed from the clinch, but Silva lunged forward with three punches and tried to clinch again. Pereira pushed him away and landed a lead left hook. He threw another one and Silva countered it with three quick punches. Pereira leapt forward with a flying knee and Silva answered with punches, but he slipped and fell. Pereira took top position in the final seconds. Another close round. 10-9 Pereira.
Round 3:
Silva had early success with leg kicks and he tied Pereira up in a clinch. The fighters battled back and forth for position and ultimately separated with just under three minutes to go. Pereira staggered Silva with a lead left hook and Silva clinched to try to buy time to recover. Pereira battered him with punches to the head and body, then sprawled out of a Silva takedown attempt. Silva recovered enough to secure another clinch on the feet and he landed a combination of punches on the break, but Pereira appeared to break Silva’s nose with a counter hook. He walked forward and landed two more hard punches late in the round as Silva backed up. 10-9 Pereira.
Winner: Alex Pereira by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 5-1-0.
(Undercard results and play-by-play on Page Two.)