Rob Font and Marlon Vera face-off in a bantamweight showdown in the main event of UFC on ESPN 35 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Rob Font comes into this fight with a 19-5 record overall and coming into this one he has won four of his last five fights. In Font’s last fight against Jose Aldo though, he was outstruck 149-86 and that led to the unanimous decision loss. Font’s last win came in May of 2021 against Cody Garbrandt. Font outstruck Garbrandt 176-63 and that led to the unanimous decision victory. Font is averaging 5.64 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.55 significant strikes per minute. He is averaging 1.10 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 36 percent of his takedown attempts. He also stops 55 percent of his opponents takedown attempts. Eight of Font’s fights have come by knockout, and I would expect him to try and box and strike in this one.
On the other side of this matchup is Marlon Vera who sits with an 18-7-1 record overall and he has won two fights in a row. In the last fight against Frankie Edgar in November of 2021 he was actually being outstruck, but midway through the third round, he finished the fight by knockout. Vera’s last loss also came against Jose Aldo back in 2020. Vera is averaging 4.08 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 4.27 significant strikes per minute. Vera is also averaging 0.82 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 42 percent of his takedown attempts. He also stops 69 percent of opponents takedown attempts.
One big key to follow in this fight is this is Vera’s first ever main event, so the five rounds could be a problem. I don’t think it will be a problem though, because he is in very good shape, and he will be ready to go here. Vera is the better wrestler, and I expect he will try to use that to his advantage here. Vera might not get the finish, but he will still get the job because of the wrestling. Back Vera on the money line.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
Mitch's Take...
