After a big weekend in Dallas, Texas, the UFC returns to the Apex where light heavyweights face off in this weekend’s main event while MMASucka brings you UFC Vegas 59 results throughout the evening. Facing off in the main event will be former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos and Jamahal Hill. Also, season thirty of The Ultimate Fighter comes to a close with the finales tonight in the heavyweight and women’s flyweight divisions.
UFC Vegas 59 Results – Main Event
Coming into UFC Vegas 59, Thiago Santos last fought earlier this year at UFC Vegas 50 where he faced Magomed Ankalaev in the main event. Santos lost that fight as Ankalaev defeated him by unanimous decision to make Santos 1-4 in his last five outings. The one win during that time came before he faced Ankalaev when he defeated Johnny Walker by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC Vegas 38.
Prior to the win over Walker, Santos had been on a three fight losing streak. Coming off a three fight winning streak, he got a shot at the title against Jon Jones at UFC 239. That was the first loss on his skid as Jones snapped his win streak in a very close fight that saw Jones win by split decision. In his fight with Jones, Santos suffered some serious injuries to his knee that knocked him out of competition for more then a year.
He returned sixteen months later, losing his next outing against Glover Teixeira by submission in round three of their main event fight at UFC on ESPN 17. The third loss on Santos’ losing streak was at UFC 259 where he lost by unanimous decision to Aleksandar Rakic. Santos looks to prove he should remain among the top of the light heavyweight division if he can get through Hill at UFC Vegas 59.
Hill enters this fight with a 4-1, 1NC record since he earned his UFC contract from the Contender Series in 2019. He made his UFC debut in 2020, defeating Darko Stosic by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 166. In his second UFC fight he faced Klidson Abreu and it had originally been a TKO win for Hill, however it was overturned to a no contest after he tested positive for marijuana.
Following the no contest, Hill got back on track by picking up a big win over Ovince Saint Preux, finishing him by TKO in the second round of their meeting at UFC on ESPN 19. After his win over OSP, Hill suffered his first loss as a professional fighter, losing by round one TKO to Paul Craig at UFC 263.
Hill has since been able to rebound from that loss as he has won two in a row since then. Both of those wins were knockouts that came in the first round as his first fight since the loss was a forty-eight second knockout win over Jimmy Crute at UFC Vegas 44. That was followed by a three minute knockout win over Johnny Walker in Hill’s first main event during his most recent outing at UFC Vegas 48. Hill is looking for the biggest win of his career as he hopes to crack the top five with a win over Santos.
UFC Vegas 59 Results – Co-Main Event
UFC Vegas 59’s co-main event will feature an exciting matchup in the welterweight division as Vicente Luque faces Geoff Neal. Entering this fight, Luque is 4-1 in his last five outings, with that one loss snapping his four fight win streak happening in his most recent fight. During that four fight win streak, Luque finished all four of his opponents starting with a third round TKO win over Niko Price at UFC 249. Following that was a second round knockout win over Randy Brown at UFC Fight Night 173.
After those wins, he won his next two straight by submission, finishing former champion Tyron Woodley in the first round at UFC 260 followed by another first round submission over Michael Chiesa at UFC 265. In Luque’s most recent fight, his win streak was snapped after losing to Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision in their main event at UFC Vegas 51. He will be looking to bounce back from that loss with a big win over Neal.
As for Neal, dating back to when Luque’s four fight win streak started in 2020, he holds a record of 1-2. Prior to 2020, Neal had been undefeated in his UFC career with five straight wins since he earned his contract on the Contender Series in 2017. During that time, he had picked up notable KO/TKO wins over Frank Camacho, Niko Price, and Mike Perry.He even picked up a unanimous decision win over Belal Muhammad during that time, but his undefeated UFC record was spoiled in 2020 when he lost by unanimous decision to Stephen Thompson in their main event at UFC Fight Night 183.
After that, Neal lost another fight marking the first time in his professional career he had lost two in a row. That loss came against Neil Magny as Magny handed Neal another unanimous decision loss during their fight at UFC Vegas 26. In his most recent fight, Neal snapped his losing streak by picking up a split decision win over Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 269. Neal looks to win his second straight and potentially climb back into the top ten of the division with a win over Luque on Saturday.
UFC Vegas 59 Results – Main Card
Kicking things off for UFC Vegas 59’s main card will be a matchup in the lightweight division as Terrance McKinney takes on Erick Gonzalez. McKinney enters the fight with a 2-1 record in his UFC career. He made his debut at UFC 263 when he knocked Matt Frevola out in seven seconds. In his second fight, he submitted Fares Ziam in just over two minutes at UFC Vegas 49. In his most recent fight, McKinney suffered his first UFC loss after being finished by TKO in the first round of his fight with Drew Dober at UFC Vegas 50. Erick Gonzalez will be entering the fight coming off his UFC debut back in October. He lost that fight as he was knocked out in the second round against Jim Miller at UFC Vegas 40.
Following that fight will be a heavyweight fight between Augusto Sakai and Serghei Spivac. Sakai enters this fight looking to snap his current three fight losing streak. In all three of those fights, Sakai was finished by KO/TKO as he suffered losses to Alistair Overeem, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Tai Tuivasa in his most recent outing. Spivac enters the fight coming off a win earlier this year when he finished Greg Hardy by TKO in the first round of their meeting at UFC 272.
In the third fight on the main card, the women’s flyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 30 will be crowned as Brogan Walker takes on Juliana Miller. On her way to the finals, Walker defeated both of her opponents in the tournament by decision en route to her matchup with Miller. As for Miller, she defeated his first opponent in the tournament by unanimous decision and then submitted her semi-final opponent in the second round to lock up her final spot.
Finally, before the co-main event, the heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 30 will be crowned in a matchup between Mohammed Usman and Zac Pauga. Usman made his way to the finale with two decision wins during the tournament. Pauga won his first fight by decision in the tournament and then finished his next opponent in the semi-finals by second round TKO.
Follow along with MMASucka as we provide UFC Vegas 59 Results throughout the card.
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+ – 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST)
Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill
Vicente Luque vs. Geoff Neal
Mohammed Usman vs. Zac Pauga
Brogan Walker vs. Juliana Miller
Augusto Sakai vs. Serghei Spivac
Terrance McKinney vs. Erick Gonzalez
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+ – 7:30 p.m. EST/4:30 p.m. PST)
Sam Alvey vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Bryan Battle vs. Takashi Sato
Cory McKenna vs. Miranda Granger
Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Stephanie Egger
MAIN IMAGE:
Embed from Getty Images