He got it on Saturday. Hill stopped former title challenger Thiago Santos via TKO at 2:31 of the fourth round in the main event of UFC Fight Night at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Hill dropped Santos with punches and then ended things with a flurry on the ground. Santos tried to defend himself on the mat, but Hill landed elbows until referee Herb Dean stopped the fight. Coming into the fight, ESPN had Santos ranked No. 9 in the world at light heavyweight. Hill was unranked, but that is likely to change soon after this win, his third in a row. Hill said in his post-fight interview that the UFC should “keep pushing me up there.” “I feel like a title shot would be good,” he said. Santos came out looking for takedowns early on, even though he’s a standout striker with 11 knockouts in the UFC, tied for fourth most in the promotion’s history. But Hill has a ton of arm power, and the strategy was smart for Santos, who struck out a career-high five. The problem for Santos ended up being his tank. He had success with takedowns in the third round, but in the fourth, he was visibly tired. Hill took advantage by pressing him in the quarter and landing big combinations on the legs. Santos threw back hard and landed a few, but eventually wilted under Hill’s pace and boxing. “I was waiting for him to come in and shoot [for takedowns]Hill said. “I’m hard to stand with him. He messed it up really well.” Hill (11-1, 1 NC) has stopped in his last three wins. The Chicago native who fights out of Michigan has just one career loss, to Paul Craig at UFC 263 in June 2021. Hill, 31, is 5-1 (1 NC) in the UFC with four KO/TKO — tied for most in the UFC lightweight division as of 2020. Santos (22-11) has lost five of its last six games. The Brazilian slugger who trains out of Florida fought for the UFC light heavyweight title in 2019 in a knockout loss to Jon Jones. Santos, 38, is tied for the most knockouts in UFC middleweight history at eight with Anderson Silva and Uriah Hall. “Marreta” moved up to light heavyweight in 2018. UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Hill was just the second event in modern UFC history with at least 10 fights and 100% finishes, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The other was UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping in November 2014 which had all finishes in 11 fights. Also on Saturday night’s card, Mohammed Usman knocked out Zac Pauga in the second round to win “The Ultimate Fighter 30” reality show heavyweight tournament. Juliana Miller won the “TUF 30” women’s flyweight tournament, stopping Brogan Walker via TKO in the third round.
