UFC Vegas: Font vs Aldo - Dec 4 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

The 4th. The Apex. It’s FOAL vs NTDO!!!

ESPN+ MAIN CARD
Rob Font vs Jose Aldo 

Brad Riddell vs Rafael Fiziev

Jim Crute vs Jamahal Hill

Clay Guida vs Leonardo Santos

Brendan Allen vs Chris Curtis 

Alex Morono vs Mickey Gall 

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Maki Pitolo vs Dusko Todorovic

Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs Manel Kape

Bryan Barberena vs Darian Weeks

Mallory Martin vs Cheyanne Buys 

Alonzo Menifield vs William Knight 

Claudio Puelles vs Chris Gruetzemacher 

Louis Smolka vs Vince Morales 

 

This isn’t the confirmed bout order, I’m going off how Marcel Dorff has it for now. Really love this card. In its current form, and I know that’s not likely to last, I honestly think it’s one of the best Fight Night cards of the year easy. On paper anyway.

 

Rob Font vs Jose Aldo headlines. Fantastic fight this. I’ve been waiting for Font to break through for a while and he’s finally done it. Shame I’m gonna have to root against him this time but it should be an absolute belter whoever wins. We’ve all been saying for a while now that the Bantamweight division is on fire, this is just another example of that. Everyone’s talking about Yan, Sterling, Sandhagen, Dillashaw etc. These two are nipping at the heels of that lot and whoever wins this fight - #4 against #5 in the rankings - won’t be far off title contention after this Sterling vs Yan 2 business finally gets settled.

Font’s one of those guys who’s kind of gone under-appreciated over the years but you look back at his record, and especially if you actually watch his fights, you realise he’s also probably one of the most underrated in the 135 division. He’s 19-4 now and on a nice 4 fight win streak. He beat Sergio Pettis and Ricky Simon and stopped Marlon Moraes but there were gaps of inactivity in there which definitely slowed his roll. He got his big break in May though, a 5 round main event spot against Cody Garbrandt.

He pretty much schooled the knuckle dragging, puppy ear mutilating wanker the whole fight. Think I had it a shutout scoring-wise on the night. A really strong performance and a stellar display of technique over power, brains over brawn etc. Just beat Garbrandt to the punch all night and made him look silly hitting air for a lot of it. A finish would’ve been nice, they always are but, minus a finish, this was about as good a showing as you could ask for. Garbrandt’s a knob but he’s also a former champion and is still considered a name in the lighter weight classes so this was definitely a big win for Font. Hence it bagging him this opportunity here.

Aldo’s a few steps up from Garbrandt, in my opinion though. I always say it but I’ll say it again. The talk of his decline has been well premature. While he’s lost a step from his absolute peak, he’s still a few steps ahead of the vast majority of the division and I think it’s more a case of the likes of Holloway, Volkanovski, Yan etc just being that new breed who’ve stepped it up and been part of the evolution of the sport. I don’t think it’s so much Aldo has regressed as much as he’s stayed at around the same level and those guys have just caught up to him. Either way, Aldo is a legend. One of the best to ever do it. I don’t need to list his accolades in the sport. You can listen to any interview from his last fight week and hear his peers who were on the same card gushing with praise and tributes for him. The man’s a gift to any fan of combat sports, especially the striking aspect. Enjoy him while he’s still around.

Anyway, yeah, really love this matchup. Two of the better technical strikers on roster for me, regardless of weight class. Font’s more of a boxer but he’s shown other weapons in the past. Off the top of my head, the big knee he put Matt Schnell down with was nasty. And obviously Aldo’s well rounded as fuck on the feet. His hands, the kicks, the knees, the body shots. He’s a joy to watch. Really not sure how it goes, to be honest, which is the beauty of a fight like this. Not only is it great stylistically, it’s so well matched because they’re both so good technically. Really looking forward to it and I like both but I’m fully rooting for Aldo. Can’t go against him and, as unlikely as it seems at this point, there are few things that’d make me happier as a MMA fan than seeing Aldo win another UFC title before he hangs it up. I’d at least like to see him make it to another shot at the gold anyway.

 

Brad Riddell vs Rafael Fiziev is this card’s ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** and I can’t wait for it. Luckily won’t have to wait much longer. This is one of the things about the non-stop schedule of cards these days, so many killer fights sneak up on you. I remember buzzing when this one was announced, then a million other fights came behind it and I forgot all about it. Just looked up the card to do this post now and there it is. Completely slipped my mind that this was happening until now. And now it’s just 2 weeks away! Brilliant fight. Riddell is 30 years old from New Zealand. 10-1 and on a 7 fight winning streak. I instantly became a fan of him after his UFC debut against Jamie Mullarkey a couple of years back. If you missed it get it watched, you’ll thank me later. Since then he’s won another 3 fights, including a FOTN barnburner against Drew Dober at UFC 263 in June. He’s one of those fighters who seemingly just has a style that it’s impossible to have a dud with. And as much as I’ve raved about him, I’m an even bigger fan of his opponent.

Yes.

Fiziev’s 28, from Kazakhstan but lives and trains in Thailand and he’s a striking specialist. Went 39-8 with 29 knockouts in Kickboxing and so far he’s 10-1 in MMA with notable UFC wins over Marc Diakiese, Renato Moicano and Bobby Green in his last 3 outings. Insanely fun style to watch. Even when he’s on the defence he’s pulling off those mad Matrix style lean back moves and he’s a little whirlwind on the offence as well. I’d be amazed if this is anything short of a POTN winner, either FOTN or one of them bagging $50K for a spectacular performance or a big finish. I’ve probably jinxed it now but this could well be a late contender for FOTY if they’re both on their A game. Can Lightweight get any more stacked?!

 

Jim Crute vs Jamahal Hill. Another quality fight between two up and comers who’ve had the prospect tag attached to them for a bit now. Both have hit stumbling blocks recently though. Aussie Crute went 12-1 initially with some solid wins in there over Paul Craig, Michal Oleksiejczuk and Modestas Bukauskas. He ran into Anthony Smith last time out though and suffered a leg injury and couldn’t come out for the second round. He’s only 25, it’s not the end of the world and he’s still got potential but he needs to get back on track here. Hill went 8-0-0-1 with the only blemish being a win overturned to a stupid No Contest because he got had by USADA for smoking weed. He ran into his first legit loss in June though when Paul Craig submitted him and nearly snapped his arm with an armbar. These setbacks for both were hardly disasters. They both have time and there’s probably better to come. I like these clashes between guys on the climb myself.

 

Clay Guida vs Leonardo Santos is an interesting clash between two Lightweight oldies. Guida turns 40 a few days after this show and Santos is 41. Good innings for 155ers but their days are surely numbered now. Guida will probably be kept around regardless, to be fair. He’s part of the furniture now I suppose.

One of the most exciting fighters in the sport back in the mid to late 2000s and one half of a handful of some of the best fights in Lightweight history. The classics with Tyson Griffin, Roger Huerta and Diego Sanchez are still among my personal favourite fights ever. I’ll always have a soft spot for the barmy sod for that run. His fights have been nowhere near as entertaining over the last decade or so but him changing up his style is what’s given him longevity in the sport. If he’d carried on as Caveman Clay he’d have no doubt burnt out and disappeared by 2011ish. As much as I was gutted when he joined Greg Jackson’s gym and got ‘tamed’, it undoubtedly added years onto his career. Can’t fault him. It’s coming to an end but he did take Mark Madsen to a split decision in his last fight so there’s some life in him yet. Santos is a different case entirely. He’s slightly older than Guida but doesn’t have nearly the amount of miles on the clock because he’s been nowhere near as active. At one point he was out 3 years from 2016-19 and has only fought sporadically since. World class grappler though, BJJ black-belt, armbarred GSP in the ADCCs years ago etc. In MMA he knocked out Kevin Lee before beating Kevin Lee became cool. He’s been quite frustrating, to be honest, because he seemed to have the tools to cause some problems but just disappeared for large chunks of time. He got sparked by the ground and pound of Grant Dawson in March as well, so the rustiness, inactivity and age might’ve finally caught up to him now. Still an intriguing fight because Guida’s so aggressive with the takedowns that he’s left himself susceptible to submissions in the past and that could cost him here. But he’s also probably much sharper due to his constant activity during Santos’ layoffs.

 

Brendan Allen vs Chris Curtis. Right then. This has been proper fuck about but could be a bit of a sleeper actually. It was originally Allen vs Brad Tavares but Tavares dropped out. Then Roman Dolidze stepped in and dropped out. Third time lucky hopefully because I really like watching Allen fight. He’s got an aggressive style on the feet and on the ground and I actually think he’s one of the more slept on up and comers in the Middleweight division. He’s still only 25 and he’s already pretty experienced at 17-4 with 14 finishes. He’s got a submission win over Kevin Holland that nobody ever really talks about for some reason and he’s also beat Tom Breese and Kyle Daukaus in a corker of a fight last year. Then in his last fight he had a really fun hard hitting scrap with Punahele Soriano and handed Soriano his first loss. He’s really fucking good and I genuinely think he could go on to be a player in the next couple of years. If he didn’t have that loss to Strickland in there he’d be on a 10 fight streak now but maybe that loss will be a good thing in the long run because he probably needed more time anyway before brushing up against the top 10. Curtis is making his second appearance in the Octagon after a very successful debut at UFC 268 the other week. He weathered the storm of Phil Hawes and came through with the TKO late in the first round, improving his record to 27-8 with 16 finishes. Could be fun this one.

 

Alex Morono vs Mickey Gall. Not a bad fight but can’t say I’m fussed. Morono’s done alright recently. Scored his biggest career win in May, stopping Donald Cerrone in a round. Yeah Cerrone’s on his last legs but everyone jumped on McGregor’s dick when he bashed up Cerrone so it’s only fair to give Morono some credit as well. He’s 20-7-0-1 now. I don’t know what it is about him though, I just never really give a bollocks about his fights no matter who he’s in with. Maybe the fact he looks like the generic plain template you’d start off with in Create-A-Wrestler mode in the old Smackdown games has something to do with it. And Gall fizzled out fast after the initial buzz from the massive win over CM Punk a few years ago. He’s 7-3 now and kind of floundering, alternating between wins and losses ever since 2017. Morono should probably be winning this really but you never know how Gall’s gonna look from one fight to the next.

 

Maki Pitolo vs Dusko Todorovic. I like this. ‘Coconut Bombz’ vs ‘Thunder’. Both coming off losses but style-wise I could see this being fireworks. Pitolo especially is in desperate need of a win here. I’ve enjoyed most of his fights but he’s lost 3 in a row now and been subbed in 2 of them. Todorovic came in undefeated and bashed up Dequan Townsend in his UFC debut but it’s all gone to cock for him this year. He got stopped by Punahele Soriano in January then lost a decision to Gregory ‘Obama’ Rodrigues in a bombfest. These fights are always potential ‘loser leaves’ things and that usually goes one of two ways. Either they fight overly cautious knowing their job’s on the line, or they come out swinging like lunatics knowing their job’s on the line. I think this’ll be a fun scrap though. Todorovic only seems to have one mode and it’s attack. And I can’t see Pitolo shying away from that.

 

Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs Manel Kape. Interested to see how this goes. Not massively familiar with Zhumagulov. Seen a couple of his fights, a loss and a win, but that’s it. He’s 14-5 now and coming off a submission win over Jerome Rivera in July. He has pre-UFC wins over current UFC fighters Tyson Nam and Tagir Ulanbekov as well. It’s more Kape I’m looking forward to seeing here. He came in with quite a bit of hype as the former RIZIN champ and stuff but he got off to a shite start in the UFC with points losses to Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau. In fairness, they matched him up kind of tricky right away there but still, going 0-2 in your first two trips to the Octagon is obviously not ideal. He finally snapped the losing skid in August with a highlight reel flying knee KO on Ode Osbourne so I’m curious to see if that win has given him his swagger back here.

 

Bryan Barberena vs Darian Weeks just got thrown on the card. Barberena has a fight! You’ll recall he was originally set to face Matt Brown here, in what promised to be a barnburner and one of the front runners for FOTN. Still gutted that’s off but I’m happy to see ‘Bam Bam’ will still get to fight. It’s all been last minute but he flew out to Vegas not even knowing who he would be fighting, or even if he’d be fighting at all. I thought he’d end up getting taken off the card, to be honest, so it’s nice to see he’s got a fight. I know sod all about this Weeks bloke. Sherdog tells me he’s 28 years old and 5-0 with 5 finishes. So far, so good. Hard to root against Barberena here though. Be cool to see him win and get that Matt Brown fight rescheduled for early next year.

 

Mallory Martin vs Cheyanne Buys. Nothing special but could pleasantly surprise us, I guess. Was originally supposed to be Martin against Montserrat Conejo but Conejo just pulled out the other day. Not sure why but I bet Neil’s gutted. Anyway, in steps Cheyanne Buys. She’s the fresher in my memory here. She got ragged about by Conejo in March in her UFC debut but then bounced back big time in July…

Kicked Gloria De Paula’s face off in a minute. Can’t remember much of Mallory Martin. She’s fought in Invicta, DWCS and 3 times in the UFC but I’m drawing a blank. Think I saw her last fight against Polyana Viana but she got submitted early in that one so not a lot to go on. She’s 7-4 with 4 finishes and she’s a BJJ brown-belt.

 

Alonzo Menifield vs William Knight has been added just 2 weeks out. I feel like these two have been scheduled to fight before but I might be wrong. I’m almost certain I’ve previewed this one before but it got scrapped. Regardless, it’s a proper battle of the bulls. Both are built like absolute tanks. Especially Knight. Look at him.

Fucker looks like an action figure. He’s 10-2 with 9 knockouts and is coming off a POTN winning first round demolition of Fabio Cherant in August. I don’t think he’ll ever have enough to break into that cluster of top guys at 205 but he adds some much needed spice to the mid-level of that division. Menifield is the same really. Went a perfect 9-0 with 9 finishes at the start of his career but has pretty much found his ceiling in the UFC with losses to OSP and Devin Clark in 2020. He’s since bounced back with a couple of wins and beat up Ed Herman last time out but, like Knight, I can’t see him ever getting much higher up the ladder than he is currently. He’s 34 now, Knight’s 33. They are what they are at this point. But in fights like this where they’re matched up with guys on a similar level I think there’s a lot of fun to be had. This one in particular should be an explosive slobberknocker.

 

Claudio Puelles vs Chris Gruetzemacher. Seen both fight before but can’t say I’m hugely familiar with either. Puelles is 25 years old, Peruvian with a 10-2 record. He’s barely fought over the last few years but comes into this one off a points win over Jordan Leavitt in June. Gruetzemacher is 35, 15-4 and got a decision off Rafa Garcia in his last fight in July. He got fucking battered in under 2 minutes by Alexander Hernandez before that though. Proper squash match stuff it was. Not a clue. It’s just filling up a slot on the card.

 

Louis Smolka vs Vince Morales. I’ll give it a look. I’ve always had time for Smolka’s fights ever since he had that belter against Paddy Holohan (remember him?) on one of the Dublin cards years ago. It was when the Flyweight division was still relatively new and most fans didn’t seem to be feeling it. That was one of the first Flyweight fights I remember getting universally praised. Bags of fun. Might fire up Fight Pass and revisit it soon actually. He’s been a bit up and down since. He had a 4 fight losing streak immediately followed by a 4 fight winning streak and has flitted between Ws and Ls in his last 4 fights. Pretty much always fun to watch though. He’s coming off a TKO win over Jose Alberto Quinonez in his last fight. It’d be nice to see him string some wins together now. My memory is hazy on Morales but he’s 10-5, has wins over Aiemann Zahabi and Drako Rodriguez but he’s 2-3 in his last 5 so not the best of form.

 

And that’ll do. 

Edited December 4, 2021 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Brown/Barabarena is off 😪

[Zebra Kid Mark]

Great write up as always.

This card is completely stacked for a fight night show. Morono vs Gall surely is going to be on the main card, both are name fighters and Gall is always exciting to watch in my opinion, win or lose. Now that the Bam Bam fight is off, this has to get bumped up surely? 

I can't remember the last time I thought a pre-lim fight on a fight night card was too good for the prelims so that just shows how strong of a card it is.

I have Font winning in the main event, I'm of the opposite opinion to you Wand as I think Aldo is on the slide a little bit. His win against Chito Vera was impressive but I think the last time he looked like the killer we used to know was his win against Moicano all the way back in February 2019. I'd love to be proved wrong though as like you said it is great to see him still around and we need to enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[wandshogun09]

 

[wandshogun09]

Updated the opening post. Bryan Barberena has a fight now! And newcomer Azamat Murzakanov will now fight Jared Vanderaa after Philipe Lins withdrew. A slight improvement, I reckon.

Oh and here’s Louis Smolka getting all star struck meeting Aldo.

 

[wandshogun09]

That Vanderaa vs Murzakanov fight got scrapped almost as quick as it got put together. COVID’s fault.

Fight day then. For all my talking up of Aldo in the opening post, and I stand by all of it, I’m feeling a Font win tonight. It just feels like it’s his time to break through and while I think Aldo has a bit more left in the tank than some would have you believe, I think Font might just be that good. We’ve seen Aldo still has the capability to school really tough and solid fighters like Pedro Munhoz and Marlon Vera in recent fights, and Aldo looked fantastic. Especially in the Munhoz fight. But I think Font’s a couple of steps above that level. When it comes to Aldo these days, there’s a point in level of opposition where I just don’t think Aldo can get it done anymore. He’ll always be competitive, even against Yan and Holloway he had his moments. But there’s a ceiling there at the very elite level where the wins just stop. It’s like there’s an invisible line there and there’s only a handful of guys above it that Aldo just can’t beat anymore. Below that line, Aldo still outclasses the rest. I’m not sure exactly where Font sits in that sense. Whether he’s above or below that invisible line. I’ve just a got a feeling Font gets the W. I can see it being mega competitive early on but I feel like Font’s volume is gonna give Aldo fits as it goes on. He looked fantastic against Cody Garbrandt but truthfully he’s been really good for a long time. He just never got the shine until he got the main event treatment. He’s been one of the more slept on guys in the division for a while though. 

Aldo looked like a bag of shite weighing in as well, which isn’t filling me with confidence either. 

Granted, he never looks good making 135. He obviously can do it. It’s clearly a struggle but I don’t think there’s been any controversy with him making weight for any of his Bantamweight fights yet, has there? It’s crazy really when you think back to the days when the talk was he used to kill himself making Featherweight years ago. He’s apparently made long term changes to his diet and training and it’s definitely paid off. He makes 135 regularly and hasn’t been anywhere near injury prone like he was years back either. He does things much smarter now. But when I see him looking like this on the scales, then think about Font’s high pace, high output style. It just feels like bad news for Aldo. I’d love to be wrong. I like Font but I can’t root against Aldo. 

[wandshogun09]

The Jake Matthews vs Jeremiah Wells fight’s off as well now. COVID again.

 

[Egg Shen]

[wandshogun09]

We’ve really got to stop counting this man out, haven’t we?

I mean, yeah, he’s not in his prime anymore and he’s probably never beating the likes of Yan, Sterling, Sandhagen etc going forward. But he’s still really, really, really fucking good. I’ve been the biggest downplayer of the decline talk but even I thought this was probably gonna be a bridge too far for today’s version of Aldo, just because I really rate Font. But Aldo looked incredible.

Faded a bit late but still looked dangerous and able hurt Font. If he’d had a bit more left in the tank at that point I think he’d have got the finish because Font looked ripe for it. But at that point, Aldo was tiring and he was already ahead so no point taking any big risks.

The man.

No matter how many younger, fresher, dangerous fighters he schools, you’ll still keep hearing that he’s old or washed up. But when you can lose a few steps and still put in a performance like this against the #4 ranked fighter in the world in your weight class who’s looked better than ever recently, it says it all.

I love that he’s calling out TJ Dillashaw as well. Again, it’s not a fight I’d be confident he wins but at this point who the fuck knows? I’m done counting him out and that would be an amazing fight. Makes sense now as well. TJ’s got nothing booked and if he beats Aldo that’s back-to-back wins over Aldo and Sandhagen. Be hard to deny him a crack at the belt. And if Aldo beats TJ, fuck it, give him the winner of Yan vs Sterling 2. Been saying it all year but Bantamweight really is the dog’s bollocks. 

Fiziev vs Riddell was exactly as advertised. Loved every second of it. That finish from Fiziev though. 

Poor prick was staring off into the space like he was looking into the distance waiting for the 97 bus. I was happy to see Herb Dean step in at the right time for a change there. Riddell was clearly bollocksed after that fucking helicopter propeller of a kick landed. If Herb had been slow to act, like he’s been so often of late, that could’ve been a bad situation for Riddell. Cracking fight. Riddell always comes to scrap and some of the exchanges here were basically MMA striking porn. But Fiziev just had that bit extra quality and cleanness to what he was doing, was cool and calculated in amongst the chaos and found the opening for that highlight reel finish. Great stuff. Love Fiziev. He’s like Petr Yan if Petr Yan wasn’t a bellend. Seeing a lot of talk about Fiziev’s potential and some talking him up like he’s gonna wreck the top guys but I’m not sure about that at all. He’s gonna be an absolute menace for anyone who chooses to stand with him but I think we need to see him tested more by wrestlers and dangerous submission artists before we get too carried away. So exciting to watch though. 

Jamahal Hill is looking like a problem.

Puts fellow prospect Jim Crute away in less than a minute. 9-1-0-1 now and only has that one legitimate loss to Paul Craig. Finishes over OSP and now Crute, he’s starting to make a bit of headway now. The Light Heavyweight division obviously needs new blood so this was kind of bittersweet. One prospect shines while another crashes and burns. Crute’s only 25 but he’s got some work to do now to rebuild. I’d like to see Hill get a name next. Maybe Anthony Smith. It’d be a step up but it’s one he looks ready for. 

Clay Guida submitting Leonardo Santos was probably the shocker of the card for me. Never would’ve called it. Guida winning wasn’t a massive surprise in itself. It was a matchup of two guys around 40 who are winding down and Santos has had so many layoffs I’m never confident in him anymore. But the grappling is his bread and butter, he’s as legit a BJJ black-belt as there is in MMA, submitted GSP in a grappling match years ago etc. Guida gave not a fuck. Huge feather in his cap to get the sub over a grappler the calibre of Santos. 

Crazy. Especially given how the fight started. Santos was kicking his arse big time early. Got to respect Clay’s persistence. Yeah, we all preferred him when he was a nutcase having FOTY contenders with the likes of Diego Sanchez, Roger Huerta, Tyson Griffin etc, he’s not that guy these days but for longevity’s sake, taming that style a bit was a good idea and to last as long as he has and still perform to this kind of level is impressive. Watching those mad fights he was having in the first few years of his UFC run, you’d never have predicted he’d still be going well over a decade later and it’s not like he’s looking all shot to bits and embarrassing himself. It’s got to be coming to an end now but fair play. 

Chris Curtis has had a hell of a start to his UFC career. Christ. Stops Phil Hawes on short notice in his debut, now he’s battered and finished Brendan Allen. That’s 2 real quality wins as well over tough and dangerous guys who were considered strong prospects. Between this and Crute getting walloped, not a good night for the mullet men. 

Prelims were mostly enjoyable as well. Dusko Todorovic getting back in the win column was good to see. He’s been fun to watch so far in the UFC but results haven’t gone his way lately. Nice to see Bryan Barberena get the W as well after all the upheaval after Matt Brown pulled out. Claudio Puelles securing the kneebar finish was cool as well. Don’t see them too often these days and he’s pulled off 2 now in the UFC. 

Thought the Cheyanne Vlismas vs Mallory Martin fight was a lot of fun but I saw it got FOTN and I didn’t rate it that highly. I’d have given it to Fiziev vs Riddell myself but whatever. Good scrap though and definitely one of the highlights of the prelims. When did Vlismas change her name to Vlismas anyway? She was Cheyanne Buys in her previous fights, must’ve binned her fella JP Buys off. Between this, Joanne (formerly Calder) Wood and Nina Ansaroff becoming Nina Nunes, it’s all change in the women’s game.

My main takeaway from the prelims though, was this;

It took a while but, after a dodgy start in the UFC, it seems Manel Kape has finally got his swagger back. The flying knee KO against Ode Osbourne the other month started it, now a first round finish here. Things are looking up. Good to see. Not so convinced he’ll make waves in the title mix anymore but he’s certainly better than those first couple of UFC fights made him look. Nice to see things coming together for him because an in-form Kape only adds excitement to an already rapidly improving division. 

 

Some card that. 

Edited December 5, 2021 by wandshogun09

[Zebra Kid Mark]

That was an enjoyable main card and I have to put my hands up and admit that I thought Aldo was a shell of his former self and I really did not give him much chance in this fight at all. I am happy to be proven wrong, he out classed Font from round 2 onwards (and the end of round 1).

I really fancied Font's chances coming into this, his victory over Cody Garbrandt really solidified him as a contender in my book and I really enjoy his crisp boxing and the way he fights. His boxing stance is great to watch and it is very unique in the sport of MMA. Jose rolled back the years and got it done, I guess the next fight for him now is vs TJ Dillashaw or Cory Sandhagen. I know TJ is waiting for a title fight but he's said in the past that he would take a non title fight if it is against Aldo.

How on earth did Guida survive that first round and come back to win, the fight should have been stopped but Guida was given the chance to recover and he certainly made the most of that opportunity. Santos must be a bit annoyed at his own performance and at the ref for allowing it to continue but he should have conserved his energy a it more.

Chris Curtis with the upset of the night was fantastic, it's a shame it happened to a rising contender in Allen as the MW division really needs some fresh blood but credit to Curtis for being the owner of 2 upsets in as many months. I'm not sure how far he can go at his age and sketchy win/loss record but he's fun to watch and I like seeing him fight.

 

 

[Zebra Kid Mark]

7 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Thought the Cheyanne Vlismas vs Mallory Martin fight was a lot of fun but I saw it got FOTN and I didn’t rate it that highly. I’d have given it to Fiziev vs Riddell myself but whatever. Good scrap though and definitely one of the highlights of the prelims. When did Vlismas change her name to Vlismas anyway? She was Cheyanne Buys in her previous fights, must’ve binned her fella JP Buys off. Between this, Joanne (formerly Calder) Wood and Nina Ansaroff becoming Nina Nunes, it’s all change in the women’s game.

I didn't watch the prelims but I had no idea Cheyanne was no longer Cheyanne Buys, that's got to be tough year for poor JP. He loses all his UFC fights  and then his wife scores 2 bonus awards in a row and has now seemingly ditched him (I am assuming that based on zero knowledge of the situation). That's rough.

Great summary of the night Wand!

[wandshogun09]

Saw this earlier.

Haven’t bothered looking into it more than that. I wanna feel sorry for him but I’ll hold back with my sympathy until I know he’s not a wifebeater or something. I know that’s harsh but given MMA fighter’s track records on this stuff it wouldn’t exactly shock me. 

[WeeAl]

That was a real doozy of a fight night card there. They really can put together one of these shows that's both exciting on paper and probably didn't break the bank in terms of fighter pay. Yet usually it ends up being one of those Fight Nights we were getting in October. This one wasn't like that at all though, this was miss it at your peril. 

William Knight and Alonzo Menifield are two big lads aren't they? Jesus Christ If I didn't know better I'd swear they wandered in there by accident when they were looking for a Gold' Gym. Don't know why Knight got the decision, but these things happen I guess if you don't put a stamp on things. 

Bryan Barbarena really turned that into a Bryan Barbarena fight by the end. Glad he got the win in the end, and Weeks put up a good accounting of himself. 

That finish from Manuel Kape was like watching a Flyweight 19 year old Victor Belfort. The hand speed on display was incredible. He's finding his groove now it seems. 

Jamaal Hill really made easy work of Jimmy Crute, who is a tough operator. Hill certainly has something. I like Wand's idea of matching him up with someone like a Smith, or maybe a Volkan. He's ready for a jump up it seems. 

Fiziev Vs Riddell was everything you expected it to be and more. Finish was something else, wasn't it? Fiziev makes techniques like that look so effortless. What a division this is when these two are the quality of fighter at the bottom end of the top fifteen. They are reaching the kind of fighters now where everyone is of the quality to be a legit contender as well so it's going to get really interesting. I expect they'll fight again at some point too. Great stoppage from Herb, have to give him credit when he has earned it, as so often I'll be critical of his mistakes. 

Clay Guida had no fucking right to hang on after that onslaught and hang on he did.an is made of stern stuff. Santos absolutely blew out his arse after it too and it wasn't going to end well for him at that point. Love to see some of these OG's like Clay and Jim Miller, still out there getting shit done with their 40's knocking on the door. 

Aldo Vs Font. What a funny fight this was. I obviously gave the fight to Aldo by the end like I'm sure everyone else, but I thought it was a lot closer, simply based on how you might score a fight. Something Bisping and DC were arguing about all night. The first round Aldo was so clearly losing, and then he nearly finishes Font at the end of it. Turns a possible 10-9, verging on a 10-8 loss for himself into a round for himself, that if it was boxing would have been 10-8 Aldo. 

There was the round were Aldo is on top for ages, but doing nothing, Font takes over for about a minute and a half landing way more strikes, but then Aldo sends Font's calf all the way out to California. The most significant blow of the round being for Aldo. 

There was another round where Aldo is again on top for significant time, controlling where the fight is taking place, yet all the damage in the round comes from Font on the bottom. 

A really interesting fight on the whole, with Aldo dropping Font in three different rounds showing the difference in the power and strength that he had over Font, which showed in these grappling and striking exchanges. He was able to make that count more than Font's slick boxing and high tempo output, and that's what it's all about really. A proper mixed martial arts fight that was. Aldo Vs Dillashaw is absolutely the fight to make, with the winner fighting the champ following Yan/Sterling. 

Font Vs Sandhagen?

 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Yan vs Sterling 2, Aldo vs Dillashaw and Sandhagen vs Font sounds like the most obvious and logical route to go now. I’d love to see all of them. 

[Carbomb]

4 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Aldo vs Dillashaw

They should market it as "Dilldo"