Preview: Noche UFC ‘Lopes vs. Silva’

Men’s Bantamweights

Rob Font (22-8) vs. David Martinez (12-1)

Odds: Font (-145); Martinez (+120)

The myriad lineup changes that shook up Noche UFC extended all the way to the co-main event, where Font had been scheduled to face Raul Rosas Jr. before the young phenom withdrew. Martinez was pulled from his matchup with Quang Le on the same card and finds himself in something closer to a contenders’ fight than a clash of prospects—if he can capitalize.

Font looked to be in serious decline and on his way out of the UFC two years ago, but he regrouped with two straight wins and has looked good in the process. His last three wins have all seen him prevail as the betting underdog. The 38-year-old Massachusetts native has always been a bit of a throwback specialist in the modern sport. Specifically, he is a technical boxer with one of the best jabs in MMA, average power that he sometimes amplifies with volume, and the usual boxer-in-MMA difficulties with defending takedowns and leg kicks.

That ultra-specific skill set means that Font has usually thrived or struggled depending on matchups, and Rosas, as a grappling specialist with improving striking, would have been a tough one. Martinez is not nearly as heralded as Rosas Jr., but he does have the trivia-question cachet of being half of a sibling duo with his sister Melissa. More importantly for this weekend, he is a promising bantamweight in his own right, and much less of a straightforward stylistic foil for Font.

Martinez is still just 27, but his tools are promising. Compact and explosive, he swings his way into the pocket and overwhelms foes with hard punches from both hands. At range, he has hard low kicks which he uses diligently, and will mix in higher targets once he establishes the calf kick.

Font may not be in free fall, but his hand speed and durability have waned a bit. That may be enough to let Martinez make the most of his opportunity here. It will be interesting to see if Font dusts off his underused and sneakily effective offensive wrestling against the aggressive and relatively unproven prospect, but even if he does, Martinez may just be too young, too fast and too hard-hitting. The pick is for Martinez to win a decision by hacking away at Font’s lead leg, hurting him a few times with punches, and generally doing a bit more damage everywhere across three lively rounds.



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Lopes vs. Silva
Font vs. Martinez
Garcia vs. Gordon
Gastelum vs. Stoltzfus
Luna vs. Le
The Prelims