Unusual for an Ultimate Fighting Championship card featuring finals for “The Ultimate Fighter,” UFC on ESPN 40 was one of the company’s best free events of the year. It featured a strong co-main and main event, both with considerable repercussions for their respective division’s rankings. That’s exceedingly rare these days.
Jamahal Hill faced a major test in former title challenger Thiago Santos, who nearly upset Jon Jones for the light heavyweight championship in 2019 but suffered a catastrophic knee injury in the process. Santos hasn’t been the same since and entered the cage on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas as a 38-year-old who had lost three of his previous four post-Jones bouts.