Bantamweights
Rob Font (16-4) vs. Ricky Simon (15-2)Advertisement
It took a year, but Font finally has another fight. The Bostonian’s UFC career got off to a slow start due to injuries, but Font has proven to be an entertaining purveyor of violence and one of the more underrated fighters in a deep bantamweight division. At his best, Font is a hard-charging power puncher with an underrated submission game, which has led him to impressive finishes of Douglas Silva de Andrade and Thomas Almeida. Still, there has also been a clear pattern to most of Font’s losses: When the rubber hits the road and he meets an opponent who can match him in terms of pressure, Font is usually the one to back down. Against John Lineker and Pedro Munhoz, Font simply never got going and was even tapped by Munhoz in less than a round. After a workmanlike win over Sergio Pettis in December 2018, Font has had trouble getting back in the cage. A bout against Cody Stamann and a rematch with Lineker fell through, the latter of which was particularly disappointing since it would have shown whether or not Font has mentally turned the corner. Instead, those questions will be answered against Simon, who will certainly bring the fight.
Simon is an absolute maniac, and not much else needs to be said. He obviously has skills, but the core tenet of his game is nearly unchecked aggression, as he is nearly always going after the next offensive move rather than focusing on what his opponent is going to give back. This has mostly served him well, particularly as he has shown the most basic willingness to stay out of danger. If nothing else, Simon was thoughtful enough to avoid going to the ground against Rani Yahya whenever the opportunity presented itself. However, Simon’s lack of defense finally came back to bite him in his last fight, as Urijah Faber managed to stun and finish him in under a minute. Simon still has some time to refine his approach, but this bout will go a long way towards determining if he can truly compete as a contender or if he will slot in as an elite action fighter.
The outline of this one is fairly clear, as it all comes down to how Font will react to Simon’s constant pressure. That has traditionally been enough to throw Font off his game, but there are some caveats here: Simon is a more forgiving matchup than Lineker or Munhoz, and Font has seemed to rely less on his own pressure as time has gone on. There is the chance that none of these factors even matter -- at this level of competition, Simon may just wind up charging directly into shots he cannot absorb -- but until Font proves he can fight back against unchecked aggression, it is difficult not to pick against him. The pick is Simon via decision.
Continue Reading » ESPN Prelims
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