UFC Vegas 27 to feature interesting Cody Garbrandt-Rob Font showdown

As the curtains closed on UFC 262 in Houston last Saturday night, the picture in the UFC’s lightweight division became much clearer.

Charles Olivera was able to outlast Michael Chandler in a back-and-forth war. Olivera came away with a knockout victory in the second round. After a long road during his decade-long career, Olivera got his first taste of UFC gold.

Looking forward to this weekend, the UFC returns home to Las Vegas and the UFC Apex. Prior to the pandemic, the UFC’s state of the art Apex was only used for the Ultimate Fighter and Dana White’s Contender Series. Presently, the Apex has hosted 30-plus UFC events since the beginning of the pandemic. The smaller, 25-foot cage in the Apex forces more nonstop action.

In Saturday’s bantamweight title contender fight between former champion Cody Garbrandt and elite striker Rob Font, there will be no shortage of action. Garbrandt came into the spotlight at UFC 207 in 2016 after defeating UFC legend Dominick Cruz by decision for the bantamweight title. After that, Garbrandt’s career has been a roller coaster, losing three straight, including twice to TJ Dillashaw in title fights.

Recently, Garbrandt, a former wrestler, changed up his approach focusing more on striking. The change in style appeared to pay dividends for Garbrandt in his last fight against UFC veteran Raphael Assuncao. Garbrandt was able to score a vicious knock out victory. Garbrandt is very confident that his striking will result in a victory Saturday night over Rob Font, telling ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, “I got respect for that guy but I’m taking him out.”

Even though Garbrandt’s striking has improved, he will face a tough test in the form of Boston native Rob Font. Font’s journey to the UFC has been anything but ordinary. Font discovered MMA after delivering pizza to the home of a jujitsu coach. After learning the basics of MMA, Font has been on a roll.

In his 18 career victories, Font has rolled through his competition with eight knockouts. Font currently is riding a three-fight win streak with wins over Ricky Simon, Sergio Pettis and Marlon Moraes. From a purely technical striking standpoint, Font has the edge over Garbrandt, with an average of five significant strikes per minute compared to Garbrandt’s three significant strikes per minute. With that being said, one would wonder if Garbrandt would turn back to his wrestling in order to neutralize Font’s striking ability.

The biggest question left to be answered going into Saturday night’s bantamweight match up is whether or not Garbrandt will ever return to championship form. All of these questions, will be answered when the octagon door locks Saturday night May 22 in the Apex. The UFC Fight Night Vegas 27 card is littered with notable names including Carla Esparza, Felicia Spencer and Jack Hermanson in the main card, as well as UFC veteran Ben Rothwell on the prelims. Fight fans will not want to miss this; the action begins with the prelims starting at 4 p.m. on ESPN plus and the main card on ESPN plus at 7 p.m.