UFC Vegas 53: Rob Font vs. Marlon Vera preview and prediction

In a deep bantamweight division, two bantamweights meet in the main event for a chance to rise up the rankings.

This Saturday, April 30, gives us another fight night hailing from the UFC APEX. This weekend’s main event gives us a fight between two top 10 ranked bantamweights. No. 5 ranked Rob Font will square off against No. 8 ranked Marlon Vera.

With Aljamain Sterling finally ending his feud with Petr Yan and retaining his bantamweight championship, there are a lot of opportunities opening up in the division. A big win in this main event could make one of these fighters one win away from a championship fight.

Rob Font vs. Marlon Vera: Who will get their hand raised at UFC Vegas 53?

Font is the older fighter between the two. The 34-year-old trains alongside UFC featherweight Calvin Kattar at the New England Cartel. Like Kattar, Font likes to box and strike. This has led him to an MMA record of 19-5; eight of those fights ending by knockout. Font has been in the UFC since 2014. Over that time he’s racked up wins over Cody Garbrandt, Sergio Pettis, and Ricky Simon. Font was on a four-fight win streak until Jose Aldo defeated him by unanimous decision.

Unlike Font’s striker fight style, Vera has a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fight style. The 29-year-old likes to finish the fight any way he can. He holds an MMA record of 18-7-1. Vera has ended 15 of his fights by a finish. He’s ended eight of his fights by submission and another seven by knockout. Like Font, Vera has been in the UFC since 2014. In that time, he defeated Sean O’Malley, Frankie Edgar, and Davey Grant. Since his last defeat to Aldo, Vera has gone on a two-fight win streak.

Both of these fighters have shown the ability to strike. Font’s volume and technical boxing have been an issue for many bantamweights. In Font’s past two fights against Aldo and Garbrandt, two fighters are known for their striking, Font has landed a total of 325 significant strikes. Font can also put someone’s lights out. His most notable knockout was against Marlon Moraes, where he took him out in the first round. Vera has also shown he can knock someone out in a crazy fashion. In his last fight, he knocked out Edgar by a front kick.

Both of these fighters have also shown the ability to wrestle. Something to watch in this fight is Font’s take-down defense. Against Simon, Font was taken down six times. Against Garbrandt and Moraes, two fighters known for their striking, Font was taken down a combined five times. Vera can take the fight to the ground and trap Font in a submission. With Font being the better striker, he’ll probably want to keep the fight standing.

This fight puts two well-rounded bantamweights against each other. Vegas has shown respect for how close this fight is. Wynnbet has made Font a slight favorite at just -130. Font is getting more respect from Vegas as this is his third straight main event compared to this being Vera’s first-ever UFC main event. They should be paying more attention to Font’s 43% takedown defense and Vera’s willingness to wrestle and get a submission.

Prediction: Vera by decision.