UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Font vs. Garbrandt
Cody Garbrandt, TKO, R2
Not that confident in this, it's technical boxing vs speed and power. Cody also had a tough time with COVID and has had serious injuries. I think his speed and power will end up winning him this, Font has had an incredible chin but he's 33 now, bound to crack.

Yan vs. Esparza
Xiaonan Yan, DEC
Depends on what the judges favor, good strikes from bottom or lay and pray. Gonna go with good strikes from bottom plus I think she'll be the fresher fighter by round 3.

Tafa vs. Vanderaa
Justin Tafa, TKO, R1
Very low level HW fight, I like Tafa but he's not incredibly impressive. Someone might expose his ground game like Tai but I doubt it's Vanderaa.

Spencer vs. Dumont
Norma Dumont, DEC
Banking on Dumont negating the grappling exchanges and having the striking advantage. Surprised with so many Spencer picks.

Dvořák vs. Paiva
David Dvořák, DEC
Pretty confident in Dvorak, good low kicks and strong counters. Paiva is young and tends to get a little wild. Dvorak will lose to someone that pressures him, mixes in the takedowns and throws a high volume, don't see Paiva doing that.

Hermansson vs. Shahbazyan
Jack Hermansson, SUB, R2
Hermansson survives the early storm and takes him down late. Edmen has good takedown defense early but got taken down easily by Brunson and Stewart late. I'd be surprised if he hasn't been working on the gas tank but iirc he had some sort of physical issue that was holding him back too. If that's true it puts a massive ceiling on his career.

Algeo vs. Ramos
Ricardo Ramos, DEC
I'm gonna guess Ramos makes improvements between fights and takes this one. Not confident, Algeo is really solid.

Rothwell vs. Barnett
Ben Rothwell, TKO, R2
Most of Barnett's wins are at Super Heavyweight lol. Seems like a gimme for Rothwell but I can still see him losing it cause it doesn't feel like he really has much interest in fighting anymore.

Silva vs. McGee
Court McGee, DEC
Surprising they haven't cut Court. I was really surprised he didn't attempt a single takedown on Condit. I bet here he survives the subs early and wears on Silva late. Hannibal's style feels odd at an old age where your gas tank isn't likely what it used to be.

Rodriguez vs. Silva
Bruno Silva, TKO, R1
Silva looked good last time out, Rodriguez might have more success at 125 than 135 but this looks like a tough challenge for him, Silva doesn't have any clear weaknesses he can expose.

Culibao vs. Sha
Joshua Culibao, TKO, R2
Culibao hasn't had the best UFC run but Sha's record is really unimpressive. These WLF W.A.R.S. guys are really struggling too so far this year.

Medeiros vs. Hadžović
Damir Hadžović, TKO, R1
Hadzovic has gotten out grappled in pretty much all his losses. I don't see Yancy dominating him in the wrestling. This should be a good fight.

Ismagulov vs. Alves
Damir Ismagulov, DEC
This fight screams crazy guillotine when down 2 rounds but gotta go with the much more skilled fighter.

Lol, Better than Zhang GTFO !
Zhang will kick Rose's ass in the rematch & guys like you will change their tune immediately. People are so fickle.

Mark Henry is a drama *****, not a fighter. Have had enough of this WWE BS ! Lame is what it is.

This is almost as good as the Tapology vs RKn beef.

Font vs. Garbrandt
Cody Garbrandt, TKO, R3

Hard fight to predict, mainly because of Cody, I think here are many things in favor of Font in this matchup. 

Font has great boxing and kickboxing combos; his chin seems very solid, has never been finished with strikes and took two hard kicks from Moraes and recovered impressively fast. Also, Font is very well sized for the division. He has not been the most active fighter over the years and is not the youngest, but damn his skillset is amazing and you know he's just a dog. I only have good things to say about him, honestly.

I have never been the biggest Cody fan (maybe because I've always liked TJ better?) but his skills are undeniable. We all know about the suspect chin and how it came back to haunt him, but also I think I'm one of those who can't seem to forget his amazing performance against Cruz. Maybe the problem has always been that that performance has been overvalued but damn, so fast, intelligent, precise, the scrambling ability, the ****iness. Just unforgettable. 
He changed camps for his last fight and it showed on his strategy. More feints, lot of single leg kicks shots, head movement after punching. It's a very small sample tho, 2 rounds against an always patient Assunção. Overall it was a very welcoming emotional environment to make a comeback, so I don't think he was fully tested that night.
Cody has never shown cardio issues (on the contrary) but it has rightfully been brought up into question on how big of an impact could there be after catching a bad case of COVID. All you have to do is watch the JRE episode and know it was many months of struggle, taking wrong antibiotics and then finally fixing it. It must have done some sort of damage, altho overall, because he doesn't cut much weight, I think he'll have built the necessary conditioning by now after, maybe 6 months. I think it's prolly enough to be at a decent place. In this case, size could be an advantage for him and I think Cody is one of those who keeps himself very fit year round and the reason why he goes into fight week very close to the division's weight limit, contrasting with most of the roster.

All in all, I agree: the "facts" seem to favor Font and it could be one of those cases where it turns out quite obvious on hindsight which one was going to win. Maybe after all, am I a Cody fan?? I seem to be leaning to my heart on this one: I want to believe the COVID hasn't impacted his cardio and that he has improved his style for the better. I really like Font too, in many ways he is everything that I like about an MMA striker. 

But man, I guess I'm just willing to take the L here. Maybe it's all wishful thinking, but I want Cody to get a new run for the title (BW or FLW). Cody to win with an amazing comeback performance, it's my pick.

* Edited at 05.18.2021, 12:12 PM ET *

Your predictions are all wrong this time & you will see it in time plus you just called Juan Adams 'Legendary' ?!? That guy has size & nothing else to back it up for UFC & The legend has been kicked out. Pfft !

* Edited at 05.18.2021, 12:29 PM ET *

Juan Adams is the heavyweight GOAT

No, It's you dad 😂

I wasn't kidding

Font vs. Garbrandt
Rob Font, TKO, R1
Garbrandt is such a good fighter but his chin is gone. Font is going to knock Cody out just like he did Marlon Moraes.

Yan vs. Esparza
Xiaonan Yan, DEC
Both are very good and I think this fight is going to be somewhat close but Yan will edge out a decision win.

Tafa vs. Vanderaa
Justin Tafa, TKO, R1
Tafa opened up as a -190 favorite and I still think that is good value. Tafa isn't that good but Vanderaa is one of the worst fighter I have ever seen. Vanderaa was getting wrecked on DWCS before he ended up winning. He should not be in the UFC.

Spencer vs. Dumont
Felicia Spencer, DEC
Dumont is good but Spencer is elite. I think Spencer a decision pretty comfortably.

Dvořák vs. Paiva
David Dvořák, DEC
I'm leaning Dvorak but I would not be shocked if Paiva wins. This fight is one of the hardest to call on this card. Both guys have fought very good competition.

Hermansson vs. Shahbazyan
Jack Hermansson, DEC
Shahbazyan was dominated by Derek Brunson. If Edmen couldn't handle Derek, he probably won't be able to handed Hermansson. I think Hermansson will win via decision but I would not be shocked if he GNP Edmen.

Algeo vs. Ramos
Bill Algeo, DEC
This could be FOTN. I think this is going to be a war and I see Algeo getting the win but it could go either way.

Rothwell vs. Barnett
Ben Rothwell, TKO, R1
Rothwell is so washed and Barnett is actually a pretty decent fighter. I think Barnett can win here because Rothwell is so hittable and you really don't wanna be hit by a punch from Barnett.

Silva vs. McGee
Claudio Silva, DEC
Both guys need to retire at this point but McGee is so washed he should have retired a while ago.

Rodriguez vs. Silva
Bruno Silva, TKO, R2
Rodriguez is a can. Silva is going to make this look so easy. A good amount of money is coming in on Silva and rightfully so.

Culibao vs. Sha
Joshua Culibao, TKO, R2
Culibao is a good prospect. He had a draw with Jourdain but some people thought he beat him. He should be able to beat Sha here and I think he knocks him out. Culibao has underrated hands.

Medeiros vs. Hadžović
Yancy Medeiros, DEC
I think Medeiros is underrated. I think he is better than his record. He will beat Hadzovic via decision.

Ismagulov vs. Alves
Damir Ismagulov, DEC
Ismagulov is back!! Damir is so good that he is going to make Alves look terrible. Alves is pretty good but he is going to lose every second of this fight. Damir via decision.

Decent Fight Night. 

Regardless of Garbrandt's performance against Assuncao, I just can't confidently pick him against a known (and elite, by MMA standards) puncher. He is undeniably chinny and we don't know if he's still prone to brawl like a complete idiot because Assuncao was never gonna be the one to bring that out of him. Punch-for-punch I don't think Cody can hang with Font, to be honest. We'll see. 

Hoping this is Xiaonan Yan's coming out party, but Esparza is a tough out. Her last three wins give me some confidence she can give Esparza some severe fits, though. 

Jack Harmansson would need to be on quite the decline to lose to Edmen Shahbazyan. No disrespect to Shahbazyan intended, either. I think he's a fighter to watch definitely. Just not on the level of people like Vettori and Cannonier imo - can't see him beating a vet like Hermansson.

This card is pretty bland honestly. Can't get behind any Justin Tafa hype yet, and a win over Vanderaa doesn't change that. Can never get behind a Felicia Spencer fight, because it makes me very sad about the state of Canadian MMA. 

Weirdly enough the two first fights of the night if Tapology's bout order is accurate may be the best fights on the card. Medeiros/Hadzovic and Ismagulov/Alves are fantastic. Also excited for Rothwell/Barnett if Barnett can actually make 265. The state of heavyweight right now is awful, but this fight could be weird and ******* wild.

Font vs. Garbrandt
Cody Garbrandt, DEC
I can't say I'll be shocked, but I would be mildly surprised if Cody doesn't use his Wrestling. Font has just terrible takedown defense, his idea of a TD defense is jumping the gilly worse than Dustin. Garbrandt needs to use his speed defensively here and not in search of the KO, Font has a chin of steel and will gladly engage in a brawl and I think his defense in the middle of combos is enough to win any long exchange he gets into here. Close fight, but I'll say Garbrandt will once again show a solid gameplan (i'm hoping).

https://www.tapology.com/fantasy/36828

Either click on link or copy and paste url  -- To GAIN ACCESS to Group BATTLE ...


you will be able to comment and talk trash !!!






I invited - MMAFortuneteller ... lets see if he jumps in.  I really want him to get in !!! 

Hey Buddy ... thats great you had a few picks last weekend. 

I am challenging you -- BRING IT !!!

FireFist, anyone ever tell you you've got big "Overcompensating to fit in with the guys in the locker room" energy?

I thought the idea of @firefist going head to head with @Erison was brilliant--but

@firefist inviting others to join in a DUEL is  bizarre and unsatisfying

Can we erase this link and reset for an 

actual head to head and not a group cluster****?

But cluster****s are way more fun.

Font vs. Garbrandt
Rob Font, TKO, R3
Font got the edge in standup here imo, cody should try some wrestling in this

Yan vs. Esparza
Xiaonan Yan, DEC
Ufc 261 made Chinese fighters look like ****

Tafa vs. Vanderaa
Justin Tafa, DEC
Vanderaa got into the ufc after beating Harry hunsucker.🤦🏻‍♂️

Rothwell vs. Barnett
Ben Rothwell, DEC
Hard to finish Rothwell

Ismagulov vs. Alves
Damir Ismagulov, DEC
Rafael on the naughty step for missing weight by a mile on his debut like a real clown👌🏻

A free-for-all dilutes the excitement and build up for a head to head duel.

Think of 3 fighters in the octagon.

You may disagree, fair enough.