This Saturday night’s installment of MMA mayhem comes from the UFC APEX facility near Las Vegas, as UFC Fight Night 188 will feature Rob Font and Cody Garbrandt, a former UFC Bantamweight beltholder, in the main event. The co-headliner pits Carla Esparza against Yan Xiaonan in a women’s strawweight clash. You can catch the entire evening’s action on ESPN+.
We have the complete fight card for you, followed by our UFC betting prognostication for the two main events.
UFC Fight Night 188: Font vs Garbrandt Preview
Main Card (ESPN+)
Rob Font vs Cody Garbrandt (Bantamweight)
Yan Xiaonan vs Carla Esparza (Women’s Strawweight)
Justin Tafa vs Jared Vanderaa (Heavyweight)
Felicia Spencer vs Norma Dumont Viana (Women’s Featherweight)
Ricardo Ramos vs Bill Algeo (Featherweight)
Jack Hermansson vs Edmen Shahbazyan (Middleweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
Ben Rothwell vs Chris Barnett (Heavyweight)
Court McGee vs Claudio Silva (Welterweight)
Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs Victor Rodriguez (Flyweight)
Josh Culibao vs Sha Yilan (Featherweight)
David Dvorak vs Juancamilo Ronderos (Flyweight)
Damir Hadzovic vs Yancy Medeiros (Lightweight)
Rafael Alves vs Damir Ismagulov (Lightweight)
Rob Font (18-4, 8-3 UFC, -110) vs Cody Garbrandt (12-3, 7-3 UFC, -110) gives us Garbrandt’s latest shot at reestablishing himself as a bantamweight contender again. In 2016, he used a series of first-round knockouts, including such victims as Thomas Almeida, to rise to the top contender. He fought Dominick Cruz and obliterated him with his hand speed. He lost a pair of title bouts to T.J. Dillashaw, as Dillashaw lured him into disorderly strike exchanges that allowed Dillashaw to step in and deliver knockouts. The same problem bit him against Pedro Munhoz. When he faced Raphael Assuncao in June, Garbrandt took advantage of Assuncao’s timidity and comes in with a win.
Font has a seven-year UFC career that has been beset by injuries. In 2015, he had a terrific debut victory against George Roop but then missed all of 2015, and he has had layoffs of at least 12 months before each of his last two fights. When Font has been given a showcase fight, he has taken advantage, and he brings pressure and can finish less elite opponents quickly. His biggest fights have come against Munhoz and John Lineker, although he lost both of those, situations where he gave up on the pressure game and ended up losing as a result. In 2019, he responded more effectively to pressure from Ricky Simon, and he did not need much time at all to knock out Marlon Moraes, who kept trying to take the fight to the ground. Garbrandt looked solid against Assuncao, but Font is a much tougher test. Font will likely bring the pressure to Garbrandt, and his blend of knockout power and length will make it harder for Garbrandt to try and win in a striking battle. Expect a violent battle, but expect Font to prevail.
Final Prediction:
Font wins via knockout
Carla Esparza (17-6, 8-4 UFC, +105) vs Yan Xiaonan (13-1, 6-0 UFC, -125) is a fight to see who will challenge Rose Namajunas next for the UFC Women’s Strawweight belt. If the winner is Esparza, we would go back to 2014, when she was the first champion of the division — via a win over Namajunas. Esparza fell hard afterward, though, taking a vivid beating from Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Since then, Esparza has tried to get back to elite contender status but never quite got there. Losses to Claudia Gadelha and Tatiana Suarez in 2018 had people worried that her contending years were done. Since then, though, she has won four fights in a row.
Yan emerged as a potential contender in UFC with her 2019 victory over Angela Hill. Last year, she routed Karolina Kowalkiewicz and followed that up with a November victory over Claudia Gadelha. Esparza is her next step when it comes to getting a title fight. Esparza is a strong wrestler who has worked to improve the striking game in recent years, but she can still get overwhelmed by power and volume in the striking game. Yan does not have a solid takedown defense, but she can grapple and might be able to keep things close on the ground. Esparza has a way of slowing down in the third round, so Yan should be able to stack points late.
Final Prediction:
Yan wins via decision
UFC Betting Odds
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