UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo

This Saturday sees the UFC return after a weekend away for UFC Fight Night: Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo at Las Vegas’ Apex facility.

This UFC Fight Night does not seem to be getting much attention from fans, but despite being in the shadow of the upcoming UFC 269 event, it’s a strong card in its own right. So with a number of key fights in various weight classes up and down the division, this should almost certainly be an event worth watching.

With that in mind, here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo.

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#1. Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo - UFC bantamweight

Rob Font is currently on the best run of his UFC career

It’s basically set in stone now that the UFC bantamweight title will be unified at some point in early 2022, with champion Aljamain Sterling set to rematch interim champ Petr Yan. Once that fight is out of the way, though, who will take the next title shot? It’s definitely not inconceivable that it could be the winner of this clash.

Currently ranked at No.4 in the division, Rob Font is comfortably on the best run of his UFC career. The lanky Boston-based striker has a hugely underrated 9-3 record in the octagon and, right now, he’s on a four-fight win streak.

Most importantly, his last two wins came over two very high-level opponents in the form of Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Moraes, making him a genuine threat to any fighter in the division.

Jose Aldo, on the other hand, is at an odd stage in his career. At 35 years old and with well over a decade of fighting under his belt, most fans figured he’d be slowing down at this stage.

Three back-to-back losses to Alexander Volkanovski, Marlon Moraes, albeit in controversial fashion, and Petr Yan seemed to confirm that idea. However, the former UFC featherweight champ has now beaten Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz and looked back to his best in both fights.

So how do these two fighters match up? Naturally, it’s likely to be a striking-based bout. Font has a couple of submission wins on his ledger, while Aldo’s grappling has always been underrated, but the truth is that both men prefer to fight on their feet.

With that considered, then, the result could come down to how Aldo manages to handle the length and reach of Font. The Boston native only has a one-inch height advantage and a two-inch reach advantage, but he’s very skilled at using that height to keep opponents at the end of his ramrod jab.

However, it’s worth noting that Font’s last few victims were at a much larger disadvantage in terms of reach than Aldo will be and, more to the point, Vera has a similar reach to Font and didn’t give Aldo all that many problems. When you add in the fact that this will probably be the biggest fight of Font’s career and the fact that Aldo will be the best leg kicker that he’s ever faced, it might not bode all that well for him.

If Font can win this fight then he’ll almost certainly be in line for a shot at the UFC bantamweight title at some point in 2022. However, given that Aldo didn’t appear to be close to being finished in his wins over Munhoz and Vera, it seems like a very hard task for him.

Is it possible for Father Time to catch up with Aldo here? There’s definitely a chance, but if that doesn’t happen, he should win here. The pick is Aldo via decision.

The Pick: Aldo via unanimous decision

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#2. Brad Riddell vs. Rafael Fiziev - UFC lightweight

Brad Riddell is one of the UFC's fastest-rising lightweight stars

This co-headliner might be lacking a little in terms of name value, but the truth is, it should be a fantastic bout between two of the UFC lightweight division’s quickest-rising stars.

Brad Riddell debuted back in 2019 as a bit of an unknown quantity, but since his first fight he’s quickly established himself as a highly dangerous striker. ‘Quake’ fights out of the same camp as Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya. It’s easy to see a similar style to the former when watching him in action. Riddell has excellent footwork and movement and strings combinations together in a beautiful way.

Thus far there’d probably be two knocks on him. Firstly, he’s not the best finisher, with all four of his UFC victories going the distance. Secondly, based particularly on his most recent win over Drew Dober, he’s a little too happy to take a shot in order to give one, which is always risky.

Rafael Fiziev, meanwhile, is flashier than Riddell and is probably equally dangerous. The native of Kyrgyzstan is an excellent Thai-style kickboxer and while he fell to Magomed Mustafaev in his UFC debut in spectacular fashion, he’s been outstanding since.

Right now, ‘Ataman’ is on a four-fight win streak, with the most impressive victory coming over Renato Moicano via knockout in 2020.

Essentially, the likelihood of either of these men taking the fight to the ground seems low, meaning we should be treated to a wild striking battle that could contend for the Fight of the Night bonus.

Which man will win? It should probably come down to whether Riddell can avoid eating anything really explosive from Fiziev. If he can do that, then his stronger fundamentals and punching power should be enough to carry him through, although it’s doubtful he’ll pick up a finish.

Fiziev is definitely capable of stopping Riddell in a rush, as he’s shown incredible finishing skills before, but ‘Quake’ has also never been knocked out in 11 MMA fights, as well as an apparent 69 kickboxing bouts.

Considering Riddell’s chin, then, as well as his excellent training camp and good run, the pick is ‘Quake’ via decision.

The Pick: Riddell via unanimous decision

#3. UFC Fight Night: The Main Card

Hard-hitting 205lber Jimmy Crute is in action on this weekend's main card

In the UFC lightweight division, Clay Guida takes on a fellow veteran in the form of Leonardo Santos. Guida showed he’s not quite finished recently despite a loss to Mark Madsen, but this sounds like a stylistically tricky bout for him. Santos is slightly bigger and is one of the best grapplers in the division. Therefore, the pick is Santos via submission.

In a light heavyweight bout, Jimmy Crute takes on Jamalhal Hill. This one should be a lot of fun, as both are among the better prospects at 205 pounds despite suffering losses in their respective last outings.

Overall, Crute is probably the more proven fighter, as his wins over Paul Craig, Michael Oleksiejczuk and Sam Alvey were excellent, while Hill’s best win was a KO of the past-his-prime Ovince Saint Preux. Overall Hill has the striking talent to win this one, but it’s hard to imagine him doing that well against the thudding style of Crute. Therefore, Crute by TKO is the pick.

Finally, in a middleweight clash, Brendan Allen takes on Chris Curtis. This is a very quick turnaround for Curtis, who only knocked out Phil Hawes on November 6, four weeks before this show.

‘Action Man’ looks like an explosive fighter, but quite how well he’ll do against Allen, who is excellent in all areas and has plenty of UFC experience, is another thing entirely. With the late notice for Curtis being a worry, the pick is Allen via submission.

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#4: UFC Fight Night: The Prelims

Picks in bold

Middleweight division: Maki Pitolo vs. Dusko Todorovic

Flyweight division: Manel Kape vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov

Welterweight division: Jake Matthews vs. Jeremiah Wells

Women's strawweight division: Cheyenne Buys vs. Mallory Martin

Light heavyweight division: Alonzo Menifield vs. William Knight

Lightweight division: Claudio Puelles vs. Chris Gruetzemacher

Welterweight division: Alex Morono vs. Mickey Gall

Bantamweight division: Louis Smolka vs. Vince Morales

Light heavyweight division: Jared Vanderaa vs. Azamat Murzakanov