Rob Font vs. Thomas Almeida
In 2015 the Bantamweight division had a buzz saw running through it displaying such a sympathy of violence that the MMA collective were calling it the Future Champion of the Division. Although some of the enthusiasm has waned on Thomas Almeida following a KO loss to a future Champion in Cody Garbrandt in a battle of 135lb Top Prospects. Now alternating wins and losses in his last four fights the once terror of the division has had his hype cooled. At his core Thomas Almeida is a forward moving pressure fighter that puts out such a high degree of offense that he leaves himself open for shots which will result in him getting dropped once (its his signature). Even with his propensity for getting dropped Almeida has fantastic recoverability popping back up and throwing back almost immediately after being dropped.
This Saturday night will be a hometown fight for Rob Font who cut his teeth in the sport at the areas premiere MMA organization CES (Classic Entertainment and Sports). Rob Font has always shown great boxing with coach Mark DellaGrotte but after a loss in his most recent fight to Pedro Munhoz (by submission) Font has moved his camp to join Joe Lauzon’s team. On the surface this move makes sense in terms of grappling if you want to stay in the area to train however in terms of striking this will hamper more than help Font in my opinion. Any fighter of substance that comes out of Lauzon’s camp have the same boxing style he does which is much more basic and less effective in the long run as DellaGrotte’s style.
In terms of the straight forward matchup this is a fight between a pressure striker against a fighter who can’t fight while backing up. When pressured Font moves backward not circling and he can be overwhelmed as Almeida starts piling up combinations on the move which he is known for. Almeida has shown he is competitive with the upper level of the division while Font has faltered any time he’s been near the top not to mention John Lineker putting out the exact blueprint to beat Font who in this fight will have dampened striking acumen.
Pick: Almeida (-105)