After the previous Saturday left a void in our MMA lives as the major promotions were off due to the Thanksgiving holiday, this week answered the call. Bellator on Friday was pretty solid and the main event lived up to the hype. Sergio Pettis got the knockout win after he was losing the entire fight against Kyoji Horiguchi up until he landed the spinning backfist. That set the stage for Saturday's UFC action that was a crazy night of fights with a lot of really good finishes and some pretty good stories coming out of it. The main event was obviously the main talking point coming out of it and will be the subject of this post. So before I waste everyone's time rambling. let's just get into it.
Coming into the event, Rob Font vs Jose Aldo was perfectly set up to be a title eliminator fight where the winner goes on to face TJ Dillashaw for the right to challenge for the title. If you read my preview for the fight, I actually think it was a really good one, maybe my best preview ever in terms of laying out the strategic paths both guys could and should go down. I knew Font had to pressure Aldo and use his volume striking to overwhelm Aldo and put his cardio to the test. Font came out and from the opening horn, did just that. Font looked in good condition and his combinations were on point from the jump. I had said that a key for Aldo was to force the fight to take place on his terms at his pace. He didn't do a great job of that early, but he changed that later in the fight. I said keeping the fight at kicking range would serve him well as Font would do most of his work at boxing range. Aldo started using his kicks in the second round and was able to damage Font's lead leg that would slow his movement in addition to the range and pace benefits. The one thing I didn't mention is that Aldo would have a clear power advantage. I didn't mention this because quite honestly I didn't perceive it. Font's power looked perfectly acceptable against Marlon Moraes and Aldo didn't look extremely powerful against Pedro Munhoz, but the power advantage was made obvious when Aldo dropped Font late in the first round. He would hurt Font with straight right hands at several points throughout the fight and that was ultimately the deciding factor. Aldo was also able to control Font on the ground in a couple of rounds, which really helped his cardio situation as he was able to keep the fight at his own pace, albeit in a way that I don't think many would've guessed. This also translated to a unanimous decision win for Aldo, but now what do both men do from here?
I'm going to start with Aldo because I think he's pretty easy here. Jose Aldo should and I assume he will end up in a number one contender fight against TJ Dillashaw that will likely be a 5 round main event. This fight almost makes itself to the point where I don't even have much to say about it. Both men are former champions who are trying to get back to that title shot. Aldo has been saying Dillashaw's name for a little bit too now, so that only adds to it. I don't know if anyone saw either of these guys getting back to a title shot after Aldo looked like he might be on the back end and Dillashaw being suspended for two years that ended earlier this year, but we are now in a situation where one is almost guaranteed a title shot with a win over the other. You don't really ever need a reason to match up two former champions and two men who I would say qualify as legends of the sport, but when you have one, that makes everything a little easier. I think I've drawn this out as long as I can, just book the fight. Don't make things harder than they need to be.
Unfortunately for Rob Font, things didn't go his way this past weekend, but that doesn't mean everything is bleak for him. One positive for Rob Font is that he's only fought 4 of the fighters currently ranked in the top 15 and one of them is Cody Garbrandt, who is leaving the weight class, so really that's only 3 of the top 15. This leaves a lot of fresh matchups for Font and a few wins that would put him right back into a potential title eliminator fight. If you're a long time fan you already know, but for anyone new to the sport, the UFC typically likes to match up fighters coming off a loss against other fighters also coming off a loss if they can. This is a little unfortunate for Font as most of the fighters near him in the rankings coming off a loss are people he's fought in the past. If Font wants a fresh matchup, he would have to take someone coming off a win, with one major exception. That exception is Cory Sandhagen and I think he's probably the favorite to be Font's next opponent. Font just lost to Aldo and Sandhagen has lost two in a row to Dillashaw and Petr Yan. Both men are right next to each other in the rankings and I think they would both be interested as the other represents the best opponent they could get. A win for each puts them right back into the title conversation. Additionally, this would be a striking matchup where both would probably feel like they would win. If not Sandhagen, then Font does have other options. The first could be whoever loses the title unification bout between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling. That gives Font someone coming off a loss and also a former champion, so that checks some boxes. The loser of the Pedro Munhoz vs Dominick Cruz fight checks the coming off a loss box, but would also be a little farther down the rankings. The winner of that fight probably ends up only a spot or two below Font in the rankings, meaning he would be more likely to take it, but does the UFC want to give him someone coming off a win. Additionally, Munhoz would represent a rematch that I don't think anyone is necessarily clamoring to see. Merab Dvalishvili is right behind Font in the current rankings, but Merab is white hot and is also a tough style for Font, so I'm not sure that's the right fight for him at the moment. If it was up to me, I would look at Sandhagen vs Font as the fight to make for the both of them right now. If for some reason, Sandhagen were to get another matchup or took an extended time off, Dominick Cruz, win or lose against Pedro Munhoz would be my next choice for Font. That gives Cruz the opportunity to move up the rankings he's looking for and would provide Font an opportunity to add a name and a good win to his resume.
I think that's it for me on this one. What do you guys think? What did you think about the fight? Aldo vs Dillashaw is obvious right? Who do you like in that matchup? Who do you want next for Rob Font? Let me know any and all thoughts in the comments and thanks for reading.
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