Tomorrow night at UFC Vegas 17, there’s a battle of top eleven bantamweights on the main card. Former title challenger, “Magic” Marlon Moraes (23-7-1), will be taking on Rob Font (17-4).
Font will be making his first walk of 2020 tomorrow night. He will enter UFC Vegas 17 on a two-fight winning streak. Those two fights came against Ricky Simon and Sergio Pettis. However, Font hasn’t been very active over the last two years.
This is the third straight December that Font has had a fight. However, in 2019 and 2020, Font didn’t have another fight besides the December matchup. So this is only the third time Font has fought since mid-2018.
UFC Vegas 17 is a massive opportunity for Font. Getting to fight someone inside the top five is big for his career. If he can come out tomorrow and defeat Moraes, he could really set himself up well for a great 2021.
Marlon Moraes is in a very weird spot right now. Before UFC 238, Moraes was looked at as the best bantamweight in the world. He was setup to face Henry Cejudo for the vacant bantamweight title that night. He dominated Cejudo early on.
However, as the fight went on Cejudo didn’t go away. Cejudo ended up breaking Moraes and finishing him in the third round. After that fight, Moraes fought Jose Aldo to split decision. He won, but the general consensus was that he lost.
After that, he was finished the in second round by Cory Sandhagen back in October. In the eyes of most in the MMA world, Moraes has gone from being the best to essentially losing three straight.
UFC Vegas 17 Preview
UFC Vegas 17 is such an important event for both men. Moraes is looking to bounce back while Font is really looking to break through. We should see the fight take place on the feet tomorrow night.
Many are calling this a fight of the night favorite, and I like the call. Rob Font has some of the best MMA boxing in the business. His hands are very crisp and he’s very slick with his combinations.
Moraes on the other hand has very good striking, but comes at things more while using his kicks. That is going to be really key for him tomorrow night. If he’s going to beat Rob Font, he has to be active with his kicking game.
I think this matchup at UFC Vegas 17 is going to go the distance tomorrow. I believe we will see a striking chess match, but in the end, I like Moraes in this one. I expect him to be very active with kicks to the leg and to the body. In the end, that’ll be enough to secure the decision.
Prediction: Marlon Moraes by Unanimous Decision