That was strange. A Saturday went by, and no live UFC event came onto my television screen. Did the same thing happen to you?! Well, the strange times are over, as the UFC is back at it again this week to start a three-week stretch at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas to close the books on 2021.
This week we get a very strong card, both in quality and quantity. UFC on ESPN: Font vs Aldo (aka UFC Vegas 44 aka a bunch of other names) is a 15-fight card headlined by what perhaps will turn out to be a #1 contender fight in the men’s bantamweight division.
Long Live the King
Yes, the Aldo in the fight card title is the very same Jose Aldo, former king of the featherweight division. Yes, he’s still around – now down at bantamweight – and shockingly is still a top contender. While it was always believed his frame was best suited to move UP a weight class to lightweight, he instead when DOWN to bantamweight. After a rough start where he dropped his first two fights, he’s reeled off two straight wins and has himself right in the title quest once more, six years after losing his 145-pound crown to Conor McGregor.
Saturday will be no easy task for Aldo, as he’ll face the streaking Rob Font. The 34-year-old Font seems to be really coming into his own, winning four straight fights and five of six. And he’s also my pick to win on Saturday, paying us 20/31. Despite Aldo being considered one of the sport’s greatest strikers, Font actually has better striking stats, including striking defense. He also lands 1.5 times more strikes per minute than Aldo. I’ll take the fighter with was less mileage on the odometer in Font.
Battle of the Kickboxers
Saturday’s co-main event pits two former pro kickboxers against one another in Brad Riddell and Rafael Fiziev. Both men also have identical pro MMA records in 10-1. Fiziev is the more active striker of the two men, plus he’s never been taken down in a UFC fight, which will thwart Riddell, who lands two takedowns per fight on average. Fiziev at 4/5 is the pick.
There are lots of very close odds on Saturday’s card, but not many underdogs I’m riding with. I’m taking a flyer on Maki Pitolo in his middleweight fight against Dusko Todorovic that will headline the prelim portion on the weekend. While I’m not really big on either man as fighters, ‘Coconut Bombz’ is the better grappler and has better striking defense, so I’ll splash a bit on him at 5/4.
This Week’s Lock Picks
While no longer an underdog, I’ll take Claudio Puelles as a pick ‘em (20/23) against Chris Gruetzemacher in a lightweight prelim fight on Saturday. Puelles is 10 years younger than ‘Gritz’, is bigger, is a far superior grappler, and has won three straight fights after dropping his UFC debut.
How about I give you a couple of lock picks? Take Jimmy Crute at 8/15 over Jamahal Hill on Saturday. Crute is one of the light heavyweight division’s best grapplers, and he’ll have his way in this realm on Saturday against Hill. You might even want to spice things up and take him via submission and get yourself some big bucks.
Also, I like Jake Matthews at 1/2 in his welterweight fight against Jeremiah Hill. Despite Matthews having 15 UFC fights to Hill’s one, he is eight years younger than him. He’s also a better striker and grappler, the later of which he will probably lean on to get his hand raised this weekend.