GDT: UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt

[Avs_19]

Date: May 22, 2021
Venue: UFC Apex
City: Las Vegas, Nevada
Time: 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
Viewing: ESPN+, TSN 5

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, TSN 5)

Bantamweight bout: Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt
Women's Strawweight bout: Yan Xiaonan vs. Carla Esparza
Heavyweight bout: Justin Tafa vs. Jared Vanderaa
Women's Featherweight bout: Felicia Spencer vs. Norma Dumont Viana
Flyweight bout: David Dvořák vs. Raulian Paiva
Middleweight bout: Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, TSN 5)

Bantamweight bout: Ricardo Ramos vs. Bill Algeo
Heavyweight bout: Ben Rothwell vs. Chris Barnett
Welterweight bout: Court McGee vs. Cláudio Silva
Flyweight bout: Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs. Victor Rodriguez
Featherweight bout: Josh Culibao vs. Sha Yilan
Lightweight bout: Damir Hadžović vs. Yancy Medeiros
Lightweight bout: Rafael Alves vs. Damir Ismagulov​

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[I am not exposed]

I'm surprised this fight isn't the co-headliner:

Middleweight bout: Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan

 

[MMC]

Font by TKO

 

[CDJ]

I'm surprised this fight isn't the co-headliner:

Middleweight bout: Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan

they could be calling the co-main a title eliminator, otherwise I think the fight you suggested should have been the co-main

 

[m9]

I'm surprised this fight isn't the co-headliner:

Middleweight bout: Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan

they could be calling the co-main a title eliminator, otherwise I think the fight you suggested should have been the co-main

It was added late so they don't like disrupting the main/co-main if they don't have to.

 

[m9]

Not a great card, but enough going on to keep me interested.

 

[pistolpete11]

Yeah, not a great card, but 3 pretty high level, important fights for a Fight Night.

Cody/Font would probably have been a title eliminator if the top of the division didn't stall out with the DQ, Sterling injury, and TJ/Sandhagen getting delayed.

Yan/Esparza probably IS a title eliminator even though I think it's probably going to be a boring fight. I know Esparza beat Rose, but I don't think either really have much of a chance against modern day Rose.

Edmen/Hermansson is also a good one.

The other 3 fights on the main card I couldn't care much less about. Unfortunately they put them in between the fights I do care about.

 

[CDJ]

Paiva had a bad weight cut, replaced on 24 hours notice by Juancamilo Ronderos (4-0) who came in a couple lbs overweight

 

[16Skippy]

I haven't decided on bets yet but I'd like to point out that Rothwell is fighting a guy who is 5'9 and has to cut to make heavyweight

 

[pistolpete11]

I haven't decided on bets yet but I'd like to point out that Rothwell is fighting a guy who is 5'9 and has to cut to make heavyweight

They talked about that guy on MK and apparently he's insanely athletic for his appearance.

 

[16Skippy]

They talked about that guy on MK and apparently he's insanely athletic for his appearance.

And he likes to dance lol

 

[CDJ]

I really like Hermansson and Font tonight, I think they both are in favorable style matchups

I expect Hermansson to shoot the second he eats a good strike and I expect him to have a lot of success. He’s not the ground and pound threat Brunson is IMO but he’s going to be able to threaten Shahbazyan with high level subs and I’m not sure how Shahbazyan will fare in that situation.

I think Font is a similarly good boxer to Garbrandt with a better chin and a 6” reach advantage

 

[pistolpete11]

I really like Hermansson and Font tonight, I think they both are in favorable style matchups

I expect Hermansson to shoot the second he eats a good strike and I expect him to have a lot of success. He’s not the ground and pound threat Brunson is IMO but he’s going to be able to threaten Shahbazyan with high level subs and I’m not sure how Shahbazyan will fare in that situation.

I think Font is a similarly good boxer to Garbrandt with a better chin and a 6” reach advantage

I think Hermansson will be shooting from the start. It's the classic striker vs. grappler and each knows where they have the advantage. Edmen's TDD didn't hold up against Brunson, so the question is if it will hold up against Hermannson. I'd also pick Hermansson, but it wouldn't surprise me if Edmen KO'ed him.

I agree with everything about Font. I think he needs to muck it up a little bit, though. Cody is still incredibly dangerous and I don't think you want him to be able to flow and move and do whatever he wants in there.

 

[CDJ]

I think Hermansson will be shooting from the start. It's the classic striker vs. grappler and each knows where they have the advantage. Edmen's TDD didn't hold up against Brunson, so the question is if it will hold up against Hermannson. I'd also pick Hermansson, but it wouldn't surprise me if Edmen KO'ed him.

I agree with everything about Font. I think he needs to muck it up a little bit, though. Cody is still incredibly dangerous and I don't think you want him to be able to flow and move and do whatever he wants in there.

Font does have sneaky wrestling so if he can get him to have to account for the takedown it will make managing Garbrandt’s movement easier.

That 6 inches of reach on a guy with a good jab like Font is interesting to me- he may be able to disrupt Garbrandt enough with that alone


It wouldn’t shock me if Shahbazyan gets a KO either. Garbrandt obviously has a ton of power in his hands for a 135er but Font also hasn’t been KO’d....I think we are in store for a very good one. I think it could quietly be one of the better main events of a fight night that we have this year

 

[MMC]

 

[pistolpete11]

Font does have sneaky wrestling so if he can get him to have to account for the takedown it will make managing Garbrandt’s movement easier.

That 6 inches of reach on a guy with a good jab like Font is interesting to me- he may be able to disrupt Garbrandt enough with that alone


It wouldn’t shock me if Shahbazyan gets a KO either. Garbrandt obviously has a ton of power in his hands for a 135er but Font also hasn’t been KO’d....I think we are in store for a very good one. I think it could quietly be one of the better main events of a fight night that we have this year

It will be interesting to see if Font does go for any takedowns. They talked about it on MK. Cody's TDD is 100%, but that's from only 2 fights (Cruz and I forget the other one). So it's not something we've seen employed on Cody so much. Much like Poirier did to Conor, I'd try to make him work and take away some of that explosiveness early.

 

[CDJ]

was kinda lowkey looking forward to that one, should’ve been relatively fun

 

[Byron Bitz]

IMO if Carla Esparza wins by decision tonight it should not move her up the rankings at all. Her last 7 victories have all been by decision. At some point she has to get a finish if she wants to make it to the top of the division.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Hermansen vs Shabazian is my main event tonight. 2 world class fighters going at it.

 

[CDJ]

IMO if Carla Esparza wins by decision tonight it should not move her up the rankings at all. Her last 7 victories have all been by decision. At some point she has to get a finish if she wants to make it to the top of the division.

well that’s just not how it works, she’ll probably get a title shot if she wins tonight. Even if it’s by majority decision

 

[CDJ]

Dvorak making quick work of the late fill-in. He’s been impressive whenever I’ve seen him


First fight was ok, easy to score

 

[CDJ]

Bomb from Bruno Silva. That guy can crack


Hannibal washed

 

[I am not exposed]

1st victory for Court McGee since 2018

 

[16Skippy]

I have parley on Ismagulov, Dvorak, and Rothwell, and then a single on Rothwell and a single on Yan.

The two fights we're all most interested in I couldn't decide. Edmen is young enough that he could have improved his cardio a lot from his last fight, but who knows if he actually did. And Garbrandt is such wild card. I could see either of them getting knocked out.

 

[pistolpete11]

Good for Court. Not an entertaining fight. Kind of the old school G&P type, but dominating.

Did that lady just say this guy was 360(!) pounds at one point?