Thiago Santos earned one of the most important wins of his career on Saturday when he defeated Johnny Walker in the UFC Fight Night 193 main event.

After suffering three consecutive losses and undergoing a serious double knee reconstruction surgery, Santos needed to show he was still a player in the light heavyweight division. He largely did that, outpointing Walker over the course of five rounds to take a unanimous decision by scores of 48-47, 48-47, and 48-47.

The 205-pound bout headlined UFC Fight Night 193, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The entire event streamed on ESPN+.

It was a methodical approach on both ends to start the fight. Santos and Walker worked to figure out the striking range with limited output, but early on it was Walker who did most of the advancing while Santos threw head kicks from the outside. Ultimately, not much happened on either end through five minutes.

The chaos ramped up a notch at the beginning of the second round. Walker punished Santos with some hard leg kicks, and Santos shot for a takedown that led to a scramble and a wild exchange. Both men narrowly missed in some devastating exchanges, then settled into a groove similar to the first. Walker’s leg kicks were strong throughout the frame, while Santos came back with powerful kicks of his own to the midsection for some of the best moments after 10 minutes of action.

Throwing 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑻 in the second

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— UFC (@ufc) October 3, 2021

As the fight spilled into the third round, Santos appeared to be finding his striking rhythm. He caught Walker with grazing head kicks and some solid counter punches. Walker had difficulty finding his range and spent a lot of the round skirting the outside of the octagon taking kicks as the bruising showed on his lead leg.

The fight hit the main event rounds, and the chess match continued. Santos remained committed to his kicking game and came very close to landing big with the hands, as well. Walker’s offense became relatively mute. He tried to attack Santos’ legs with oblique kicks. He also landed a nice right hand after Santos caught one of his kicks.

With the fight potentially up for grabs going into the final round, both men pushed for the victory. They exchanged kicks and punches until Santos landed a massive left hook that staggered Walker. He somehow took it didn’t go down, then tried to get a big moment of his own back. Santos remained sharp and focused, though, and avoided a fight-altering blow. Santos got a solid kick in the waning seconds of the fight.

Santos lands clean, but Walker 𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐈𝐓

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— UFC (@ufc) October 3, 2021

Santos got his hand raised for the first time since February 2020. He also revealed post-fight it was the final bout of his UFC contract, and asked UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Mick Maynard for more money.

“First of all, I need to tell something: People know what I went through (with my injuries and losses),” Santos said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “I fight every single day to be here, and I will not stop.”

Full UFC Fight Night 193 results include:

• Thiago Santos def. Johnny Walker via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
• Kevin Holland vs. Kyle Daukaus ends in no contest (accidental clash of heads) – Round 1, 3:43
• Niko Price def. Alex Oliveira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Krzysztof Jotko def. Misha Cirkunov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Alexander Hernandez def. Mike Breeden via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:20
• Jared Gordon def. Joe Solecki via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Casey O’Neill def. Antonina Shevchenko via TKO (ground-and-pound) – Round 2, 4:47
• Karol Rosa def. Bethe Correia via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Jamie Mullarkey def. Devonte Smith via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:51
• Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Gaetano Pirrello via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:04
• Stephanie Egger def. Shanna Young via TKO (elbow) – Round 2, 2:22
• Alejandro Perez def. Johnny Eduardo via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:13