In the main event of UFC Fight Night 188 on Saturday, the 33-year-old Boston native weathered a close first round against former champ Cody Garbrandt and then took over, winning the remaining four frames in more or less one-sided fashion. Along the way, Font answered several questions about his suitability as a potential title challenger. Notably, despite Garbrandt’s greater experience in title fights and main events — Saturday was the first time Font had ever fought past three rounds — Font was the fresher man in the last two rounds. He also showed discipline, refusing to be drawn into the kind of wild slugfest that favored Garbrandt, instead punishing the shorter man with his outstanding jab, eventually outlanding him by a two to one ratio.
The main obstacle between Font and a shot at UFC gold is the traffic jam ahead of him. The controversial end of the Aljamain Sterling – Petr Yan title fight earlier this year means a probable rematch once Sterling recovers from neck surgery. In addition, the Cory Sandhagen – T.J. Dillashaw main event originally scheduled for two weeks ago would have yielded a likely title challenger had it not been postponed due to Dillashaw suffering a cut in training, and may still do so if it ends up being rebooked in July, as rumored. It raises the question of whether Font will want or need to take another fight, or would be better served to bide his time while remaining in shape to make weight on short notice if needed.
In the wake of “UFC Vegas 27,” here are some matches that ought to be made:
Rob Font vs. Merab Dvalishvili: Please note that “Font waits” is also a perfectly acceptable answer here. There simply isn’t much left for him to do, as almost all of the bantamweight Top 10, other than recent foe Marlon Moraes, are either injured or already booked for an upcoming fight. A matchup with Dvalishvili might allow Font to answer one last nagging question, as the division’s top shelf is littered with stout wrestlers in Sterling, Dillashaw, Dominick Cruz and — should he ever return — Henry Cejudo.
Carla Esparza vs. Rose Namajunas: As impressive as Font’s performance was on Saturday, Esparza may have made the stronger case to fight for a belt next. In the co-main event, “Cookie Monster” put in a shockingly dominant round and a half of work against Xiaonan Yan, taking her down with ease, advancing to dominant positions and walloping her with ground strikes on the way to a TKO stoppage. The victory extends Esparza’s win streak to five straight, all of them against credible opposition and the last three against ranked fighters. The 33-year-old former strawweight champ, who once appeared to have been passed up by the women who wore the belt after her, is suddenly right back in the thick of things. Namajunas knocked out Weili Zhang last month to become the UFC’s first two-time strawweight champ. While there is always a chance the UFC will book an immediate rematch — here’s hoping they don’t — the idea of Namajunas and Esparza revisiting the first title fight in the division’s history has a unique kind of intrigue.
Jared Vanderaa vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima: “The Mountain” picked up a unanimous decision over Justin Tafa on the UFC Fight Night 188 main card, and appeared greatly improved from the man who had been losing to Harry Hunsucker on Dana White's Contender Series before pulling off the comeback KO, then was completely dominated on the ground by Sergey Spivak in his UFC debut. Vanderaa looked to be in better physical condition, and came equipped with an excellent game plan to neutralize Tafa’s strengths. Having established that he belongs in the UFC, the massive 29-year-old can now turn his eyes to the heavyweight ladder. De Lima, who won a convincing decision over Maurice Greene a couple weeks ago at UFC on ESPN 24 to go 3-2 since moving up to heavyweight, would be a suitable foil. Both are big-bodied strikers with some deficiencies on the ground; book it and pray the fight never goes there.
Norma Dumont vs. Pannie Kianzad–Alexis Davis winner: Dumont picked up the best win of her career by far on Saturday, outstriking former title challenger Felicia Spencer for three rounds on the way to a split decision. In the wake of a victory that — laugh all you want — basically puts her on the doorstep of a featherweight title shot, “The Immortal” maintained that she plans to drop back down to bantamweight, despite having missed weight badly in both of her attempts so far. If she means it, her next opponent will have to be a step back from Spencer, competitively speaking, as virtually the entire bantamweight Top 10 is booked to fight one another between now and the end of August. However, that’s probably for the best, as Dumont needs to prove she can make 135 more than she needs to prove she can compete with bantamweights. Davis, who turned around a three-fight skid with a win over Sabina Mazo in February, meets longtime fringe contender Kianzad at UFC 263 in a few weeks. The winner would be a great next foe for Dumont.
Ricardo Ramos vs. Michael Trizano: Ramos looked a full weight class smaller than Bill Algeo, but performed just fine, winning a unanimous decision in their featherweight main card feature. The 25-year-old Brazilian has quietly gone 6-2 in the UFC, but is just 1-1 at featherweight, so he figures to get at least a couple more fights before even showing up on radar in an ultra-deep division. Trizano, who won a unanimous decision over Ludovit Klein two weeks ago at UFC on ESPN 24, would be a fun next opponent. The “Lone Wolf” showed promise in winning Season 27 of “The Ultimate Fighter” but has competed just three times in three years since then, leading to a visibility problem not unlike Ramos.
Jack Hermansson vs. Brendan Allen: Hermansson is in a tough place. While he looked very strong in outlasting Edmen Shahbazyan in Saturday’s main card opener, getting back on track after his one-sided loss to Marvin Vettori last December, just about everyone else in the middleweight Top 10 is already booked to fight. Worse, six of them are scheduled to fight in August, meaning Hermansson would need to plan on six months on the shelf if he wanted to wait for any of those winners. Allen tapped out Karl Roberson with a first-round ankle lock last month at UFC 261, putting his loss to Sean Strickland in the rear view and going to 4-1 in the UFC. Allen is a man on the come-up at 185 pounds; the loss to Strickland and his wins over Kevin Holland and Kyle Daukaus are all aging extremely well. Given that Hermansson is probably at least two wins away from a title shot, he could face “All In,” then look at the winners of August’s middleweight demolition derby.