The main event features two top contenders in the UFC’s Bantamweight division. Rob Font has a 19-4 record, is 9-3 in the UFC, and is currently on a four-fight win streak. He’s taking on former UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Aldo is 30-7 overall, 12-6 in the UFC, and has back-to-back wins.
Font’s win streak includes the Bellator Bantamweight champion, Sergio Pettis, the former WSOF Bantamweight champion, Marlon Moraes, and former UFC Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt. Since moving down in weight, Aldo is 2-2, losing his bantamweight debut to Moraes, dropping a title fight to champion Petr Yan while beating Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz.
Despite Aldo moving down from Featherweight, Font is the larger of the two fighters. Font is an inch taller and will have an inch-and-a-half reach advantage. Aldo’s striking prowess is well documented. He may have lost a step since the destruction he wrought early in his career, but he is still a very dangerous fighter. Case and point, in his previous fight against Munhoz, Aldo put on a clinic. Part of Aldo’s longevity is due to how intelligent a fighter he is, and we shouldn’t expect anything less from the future Hall of Famer. However, one knock against him has always been his cardio in the late rounds.
Meanwhile, Font is also a brilliant striker and has the endurance to keep up a strong pace well into the late rounds of his fights. Font might have an advantage when it comes to boxing, but we’ve seen Aldo focus more on his hands late into his career. Aldo has moved away from relying on devastating low kicks, but he can still throw a nasty counter knee. However, it would be exciting to see Aldo breakout the same volume of low kicks we used to see from him. One of the more underrated strengths of Aldo’s striking is how much his defense has improved over the years. Keep in mind that outside of a controversial loss to Moraes, Aldo has only ever lost to fighters that have become UFC champions.
Font’s striking will put Aldo’s defense to the test. Font tends to work behind his jab, has a powerful overhand right, and we’ve seen him hurt opponents with high kicks and counter knees. The further this fight goes into the late rounds, the more interesting we think it’ll become.
We expect Aldo to win the early and mid rounds, but in the fourth and fifth, we could see him start to slow down. It might come down to whether or not Font can win an early-round or if Aldo slows down enough for Font to find a finish. We’re leaning towards Aldo, but this seems like a close contest on paper.
The Bets: Aldo (+128), Aldo by Points (+260), How Will the Fight End: Points (-145)
