Jab, Cross, Hook Recap: Thiago Santos Live Underdog at UFC Vegas 50 vs. Magomed Ankalaev?

Thiago Santos is trying to stay in Light Heavyweight contention, and will get the opportunity to do so on Saturday night against Russian upstart Magomed Ankalaev.

Santos snapped a three fight losing streak his last time out that started back in 2019 when he lost a Light Heavyweight title match against Jon Jones by split decision. After taking time off to recover from knee injuries suffered in the fight, Santos dropped two fights to now champ Glover Teixeira and Alexsandar Raktic, but got a win in his latest bout against Johnny Walker.

Now Santos will try to build some momentum against the surging Ankalaev, who is quickly emerging as a contender in this class, winner of his last seven fights. Can Santos shock the betting community? He is a +415 underdog at WynnBET Sportsbook to Ankalaev, who is the -580 betting favorite.

FanSided MMA Editor Amy Kaplan is taking Santos, though, believing that 'Marreta' is ready for the challenge and still has a run in him. She selected him in the third round of the Jab, Cross, Hook betting draft, which can be found at around the 54: 30 of this week's episode.

"He [Santos] hopefully has that dad energy, he's got a baby on the way that looks to be due any day now," Kaplan said. "Anytime there's a baby on the way or a baby was just born, these fighters have some magic in them."

Kaplan, who was at media day with the fighters and saw Santos speak, noted the great energy he had in his pre-fight comments.

It's also worth noting that Jab, Cross, Hook guest UFC lightweight Jalin Turner, agreed with Kaplan's hypothesis, noting from his own experience of having a child that it does lead to an increase in production and better results.

Will the baby boom propel Santos to a massive win that can revitalize his career? We'll find out on Saturday night!

For more of Reed's UFC bets, check out his best bets column here!