Font vs Aldo main event preview & best bets – UFC on ESPN 31

Rob Font and Jose Aldo clash in a bout between two of the top five UFC Bantamweight Championship contenders this Saturday night in Las Vegas. The winner of the main event at UFC on ESPN 31 will take another step towards earning a shot at the title.

Rob Font vs Jose Aldo fight analysis

Rob Font (19-4-0) extended his current winning streak to four straight fights with a decision win over Cody Garbrandt in May. That came on the heels of a knockout win over Marlon Moraes that earned Font a Performance of the Night bonus, and a decision win over Ricky Simon that earned him that event’s Fight of the Night bonus. The win over Garbrandt in a five-round fight showed off Font’s top-notch conditioning as he showed no signs of slowing down despite landing 176 significant strikes across the 25-minute main event.

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Jose Aldo (30-7-0) has bounced back from an 0-2 start in the bantamweight division with back-to-back decision victories over Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz. Prior to those two wins, Aldo was 2-5 over his last seven fights. It is always worth noting, however, that four of those losses came against elite competition in Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski and Petr Yan, and Moraes is no slouch either. Aldo has been around forever, with 18 fights in the UFC under his belt since joining the promotion in 2011, but he’s still only 35 years old.

Rob Font vs Jose Aldo betting predictions

In his last win against Munhoz, Jose Aldo made it look like perhaps you can teach an old dog new tricks. Aldo’s conditioning has come into question in the past as the veteran tended to wear himself out with heavy strikes going for a knockout, but against Munhoz he showed good pacing and landed 114 significant strikes in three rounds without slowing down.

This new strategy could serve Aldo well in the bantamweight division as he is carrying less power at 10 pounds lighter than he was at featherweight. Aldo may have the power edge over Font in this fight, but Rob Font has never been knocked out as a professional. This fight is very likely to go all five rounds, and given that both of these men are coming off of career-high outputs in their last fights, it’s likely to be a war.

It’s just too close too call. This is a great test for both fighters and one that will give some much-needed clarity to where these two belong in the rankings. In what should be a very competitive fight that could go the distance or eventually end in a surprise knockout either way, we’ll take the better payout potential with the underdog odds on Aldo.