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UFC Vegas 59 Best Bets: Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill Prediction and Pick

By Iain MacMillan

Thiago Santos will face Jamahal Hill in the UFC Vegas 59 main event.
Thiago Santos will face Jamahal Hill in the UFC Vegas 59 main event. / Handout Photo-USA TODAY Sports
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We have more than just baseball to bet on today!

Thiago Santos and Jamahal Hill will throw down in the main event of UFC Vegas 59. Not only is the main event going to produce fireworks, but the entire card promises to be a good one.

If you want to see the full list of odds for both the prelims and the main card, check out our odds article here.

Now, with the fights about to begin, I'm going to break down my top three bets for the fight. All odds below are courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook.

UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Hill Best Bets

  • Jamahal Hill via TKO (-150) vs. Thiago Santos
  • Erick Gonzalez (+600) vs. Terrance McKinney
  • Geoff Neal +165 vs. Vicente Luque

Jamahal Hill via TKO (-150) vs. Thiago Santos

Jamahal Hill is the real deal, and shouldn't be taken lightly inside the UFC's light heavyweight division. He averages an eye-popping 7.06 significant strikes landed per minute, which is almost unheard of in the promotions 205 lbs. division.

This fight is a tale as old as time. The next generation attempting to prove itself against the old guard. Santos is seven years Hill's elder, and he's been fighting like it as of late. His wind has left his sails since losing his title fight to Jones, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is his last fight in the octagon.

Hill should be able to use his three-inch reach advantage to his benefit, and Santos only hope of being victorious, is to turn this into a wrestling match which certainly isn't his forte.

Erick Gonzalez (+600) vs. Terrance McKinney

Should Terrance McKinney be favored in this fight? Yes. Should he be a -900 favorite? Absolutely not.

Erick Gonzalez was given an extremely tough opponent in Jim Miller in his UFC debut, but he has a chance to get back on track in this fight against a highly touted prospect in Terrance McKinney.

Don't sleep on "The Ghost Pepper" whose 8 of his 14 wins in his career have come from KO/TKO. McKinney enters the fight having been TKO'd in his last night out against Drew Dober, so we'll see how he'll rebound from that loss.

I'll sprinkle a flyer on Gonzalez in what is, in my opinion, a mispriced fight.

Geoff Neal (+165) vs. Vicente Luque

Belal Muhammad laid out the blue print for how to bear Vicente Luque back in April. If you can wrestle him, you can beat him. Luque stops takedowns at just a 61% rate, so his wrestling is clearly his weakness.

If Geoff Neal is smart, he'll follow the same gameplan that Muhammad utilized. The good news is that he was the weapons to implement it. He defeated Niko Price in TKO by using his wrestling, and could have similar success with it tonight.

I'll back Neal is the +165 underdog in the co-main event.

You can track Iain's bets on Betstamp here.

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