It wasn’t supposed to be, but the lightweight fight between Sodiq Yusuff and Mairon Santos found itself in the co-main event slot at UFC Vegas 106 on Saturday.
That, after a late illness scrapped Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato.
Suddenly, Yusuff and TUF winner Santos were the penultimate fight on Saturday, with that much more of the spotlight.
The opening round saw a feeling out process early, one that lasted for a good chunk of the first five minutes. The fight stayed standing, thought Santos, who had a bit of nervous energy early on, would tie things up late in the frame. A close round, but by the second, Santos was looking a lot more comfortable – perhaps evidenced by a flying knee attempt the TUF winner launched inside of the first minute of the frame.
That came up short, but Yusuff would have to contend with Santos’ jab and a sneaky-good head kick. And a leg kick, that two minutes in took Sodiq Yusuff right off his feet. Later in the round, Santos would tie things up, as he had in the first ever so briefly. No takedown was forthcoming, and they moved back to center, where Yusuff landed a leg kick of his own. “Super” Sodiq was bloodied, however, and Santos continued to flow, looking lose, firing another jump knee and a variety of kicks.
Mairon Santos entered round three almost certainly ahead in the fight. Yusuff’s team told him as much between rounds, looking to motivate their fighter to find the finish. Sodiq pressed forward, landing kicks, feinting, and landing at times. Mairon Santos was having more success, however, keeping distance with his jab, and continuing to mix in a variety of kicks.
With two minutes left in the frame, Yusuff exploded into a takedown, though Santos was up to his feet almost as quickly. Yusuff stayed on him, leaning into Santos against the fence. Santos used open-handed slaps to the back in a rather unique strategy, and either way, Yusuff could not get the fight back down. Santos instead reversed, but kept the fight on the fence until the 30 second mark.
Come the scorecards, it was Santos getting the nod. Overall, Mairon Santos looked impressive in his biggest win to date, over a quality opponent in Yusuff.
Official Result: Mairon Santos def. Sodiq Yusuff by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
