Thiago Santos is part of a very exclusive club. Alongside Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Smith, and Dominick Reyes, Santos is one of only four men to convince everybody besides for the judges that they beat former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

At the end of their five round championship main event at UFC 239 back on July 6, 2019, Jones looked concerned and when it was announced that he had won – but only by split decision – his relief was palpable. When he stepped away from the spot only one fight later, following his unanimous decision win over Reyes, which took place under the outdated Texas rules, the narrative was that Jones had gone into a self-imposed absence because the light heavyweight division had finally caught up to him.

Now, two years since Jones' vacating of the light heavyweight strap, not only has the division gone in totally unexpected directions – could anyone have predicted the next two champions would have been Jan Blachowicz and 42-year-old Glover Teixeira? – there's already a new generation of 205-pound fighters knocking on the door.

Magomed Ankalaev fits the profile of all the Smesh Factory fighters: born and raised in Dagestan, Russia; trained in sambo from an early age; has a chinstrap beard, name ends with a V. Going into UFC Vegas, he was also 16-1, with his first and only loss being his UFC debut, very similar to lightweight Islam Makhachev whose only loss was his second UFC bout.

That succession of seven wins in a row catapulted him up the ranks, eventually setting up this main event with fifth-placed Santos.

As often happens with when fighters known for being knock out artists face each other, there is a long feeling out process. Santos has 15 KOs in his 22 fights, Alkalaev has nine from his 17 and the respect was there from the beginning.

Neither man was willing to directly engage, leading to a first frame that ended with only 18 strikes landed overall. Commentator Paul Felder called it a feeling out process, but he was only half right. While the numbers may not be too impressive, especially as Santos landed two more, Ankalaev was bossing the Octagon, edging ever closer and closer to Santos until he was backed up against the cage and Ankalaev was standing on the edge of the center circle. Not only that but he was visibly hurting Santos with every punch and kick, something Santos could not say in return.

This continued in the second round: of the 15 strikes Anklaev landed, all were considered significant. Santos was 15 out of 18 for significant strikes and, once again, this is where the numbers lie. Previously each attack came in the form of a singe strike. For example, Ankalaev liked to feint a jab, step in with a stiff right hand and then immediately back up. Towards the end of round 2, Santos put together a simple combination attempt that didn't do much, but when Ankalaev stepped in to counter, Santos lined up a counter of his own and dropped his opponent with a counter left hook.

Instead of prompting either man to get busy, it created the stalemate that has become the unwelcome calling and of the light heavyweight division. The one punch power of Santos made Ankalaev put more focus into his evasive footwork, cage control and feints; the power on all of Ankalaev's jabs and straights made him trepidatious about getting into the position where he could uncork that famous Marreta right hand.

A bland third round that looked exactly like the first led into a fourth that began with Santos taking a chance on a flurry. Ankalaev's defense, which had been his gameplan for at least a full five minutes at this point, was too good and all this burst of energy did was tire Santos out – and still Ankalaev didn't pounce.

He did however remind us that he was a sambo champion and got a takedown which began about a minute of control time. When the bell rang and the two men headed back to their respective corners, Santos looked tired; it was now or never for Ankalaev to leave his mark on the fight.

He elected for never. Whether that's because he knew one Santos haymaker would end it or if he assumed he was up on the cards three rounds to one, Ankalaev did exactly as before and controlled the space with few attempts to control the damage. After chipping away at Santos enough to back him against the cage, Ankalaev pressed into him with solid, unflashy clinch work and ground out over half a round of control time to end the bout.

Ankalaev was correct: he won by unanimous decision (46-49, 46-49, 47-48). He then got on the microphone and via his translator called for a title bout he will not get. Dana White doesn't reward fighters for safe wins, scene fight win streak or otherwise.

Now Thiago Santos has also joined Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes in an even more unique club as a guy who should have won against Jon Jones but then went on to have such a bad run that it can be dismissed as a fluke. Since that fateful night in 2019, Santos is now 1-3 and firmly out of title contention.