UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen v Font Predictions

Elite bantamweight strikers Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font are set to bring the fireworks in their main event battle at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Saturday night (Sunday morning SA time), writes Quintin van Jaarsveld. 

The co-headliner of UFC Nashville is a pivotal strawweight scrap between former queen Jessica Andrade and the undefeated Tatiana Suarez. 

The featured bout will see Nigeria’s Kennedy Nzechukwu duke it out with Dustin Jacoby in one of two light heavyweight affairs, the other pitting Tanner Boser against Aleksa Camur.

Plus, Diego Lopes takes on Gavin Tucker at featherweight and Ignacio Bahamondes battles Ludovit Klein in the lightweight main card opener. 

MAIN CARD (from 3 AM Sunday SA time):

Cory Sandhagen (1.29) v Rob Font (3.70) (Bantamweight)

Sandhagen (16-4) has had to roll with the punches on his road to Nashville. He was originally scheduled to face Umar Nurmagomedov before the undefeated Dagestani was forced to pull out due to injury. 

Enter Font (20-6), who steps up on short notice and serves as a different stylistic proposition altogether. Whereas Nurmagomedov is a powerful wrestler, Font’s a ferocious boxer. 

Sandhagen’s well-rounded, but he’ll probably prefer the stand-up battle he’s now in for and fight fans aren’t complaining either, with the pair set to put on an exciting scrap scheduled for five rounds. 

With Font slotting in on two weeks’ notice, the bout with be contested at a catchweight of 140 pounds, five pounds north of the bantamweight limit. 

A former interim title challenger eager to get back into championship contention, Sandhagen’s a versatile and unpredictable threat on the feet and the architect of two of the greatest knockouts in bantamweight history. 

“The Sandman” stopped Marlon Moraes with a spinning wheel kick in 2020 and finished former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar with one of the most brutal flying knees you’ll ever see in 2021. 

After falling short of winning interim gold against Petr Yan later that year, he rebounded with a stoppage win over Song Yadong and followed it up with a split decision victory over Marlon Vera in March of this year, snapping Vera’s four-fight win streak and cementing himself at No 4 in the rankings.  

Font finds himself three places below Sandhagen. He had a run of four straight wins halted by back-to-back defeats against Jose Aldo and Vera but started 2023 with a bang by knocking out Adrian Yanez in the first round. 

The 36-year-old has fast and heavy hands and nine knockouts in all (to Sandhagen’s seven). Though effective, he’s rather one-dimensional as he’s primarily a boxer. 

For him to win this fight, he’ll have to get his jab going early and be the more active party. Without having had a full camp like his opponent, though, stamina is a concern and could see him having to pace himself. 

Sandhagen’s already the better athlete and younger fighter by five years. Add the fact that he has a greater striking arsenal and Sandhagen’s set to get it done and will most likely do so by decision.

Jessica Andrade (3.85) v Tatiana Suarez (1.27) (Strawweight)

Andrade (24-11) has hit a rough patch. The former strawweight queen has suffered back-to-back losses for just the second time in her decorated 12-year career and was finished in both, first being submitted by Erin Blanchfield before being knocked out by Yan Xiaonan. 

Despite standing at just 5’1″, “Bate Estaca” is one of the baddest women to ever compete inside the Octagon. A heavy-handed pit bull of a striker and crocodile of a grappler, she boasts nine knockouts and eight submissions. 

Now ranked fifth, she’s ever-game and will remain one of the division’s elite for years to come, but this is a terrible stylistic match-up for her at the worst possible time. 

A perfect 10-0 with four submissions and two knockouts, Suarez is a big and powerful grappler with the strength and skill to woman-handle Andrade. 

On an Olympic wrestling track before having to undergo treatment for thyroid cancer, she made the switch to mixed martial arts and has been unstoppable, running through the competition on season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter and looking like a future champion by mauling all comers in the UFC.

It’s no secret that tenth-ranked Suarez will shoot early and yet Andrade, despite knowing this and being a future Hall of Fame, won’t be able to stand up to the oncoming steamroller. 

Once on the ground, Suarez should overwhelm the Brazilian and force her to tap to take a massive step towards a title fight.

Dustin Jacoby (2.30) v Kennedy Nzechukwu (1.64) (Light Heavyweight)

One of African MMA’s brightest rising stars, Nigeria’s Nzechukwu (12-3) returns to the Octagon in a battle of top-15 light heavyweights. 

“African Savage” is on a three-fight win streak and most recently showed the evolution in his game by trapping Devin Clark in a guillotine choke in May to add a first submission win to his eight finishes by knockout.

Jacoby (18-7-1), one spot higher in the rankings at No 14, is the perfect veteran test for Nzechukwu at this stage in his career. 

While he enters the clash on a two-fight skid, “The Hanyak” had put together a seven-fight unbeaten run before that and has the heavy, technical striking (11 knockouts) and seasoned smarts to potentially put a halt to Nzechukwu’s surge. I don’t see that happening, though. 

Huge for the 205-pound division, Nzechukwu is all of 6’5″ and will have a massive seven-inch reach advantage, which along with the significant advancements in his game in recent times should see him stand tall, most likely by knockout.

Diego Lopes (1.57) v Gavin Tucker (2.45) (Featherweight)

Though the more experienced fighter, Lopes (21-6) is an upstart in the UFC. 

Grabbing the opportunity to make his promotional debut in May, he stepped up on short notice and pushed the undefeated Movsar Evloev to the limit before ultimately dropping the decision.

The all-around quality of his performance was such that it was a victory in defeat for the promising Brazilian, who should be at his best this time around and will chase his 20th career finish (eight knockouts and 11 submissions). 

The 28-year-old takes on a returning veteran in Tucker (13-2), who’s been in the UFC since 2017 but hasn’t fought since his knockout loss to Dan Ige back in 2021. 

He’s 4-2 inside the Octagon with two of those wins coming by submission and the other two by decision.  

Lopes looked really impressive against Evloev and with a full training camp behind him, coupled with his Canadian opponent’s long layoff, he should secure his first of many UFC wins. 

As a natural finisher, it won’t be a surprise if he’s able to stop “The Guv’nor”, but I sense he’ll win on the scorecards. The moneyline is the way to go, though.  

Tanner Boser (1.64) v Aleksa Camur (2.30) (Light Heavyweight)

Desperation will drive these two light heavyweights who’ve lost their last two fights and are likely scrapping to avoid getting cut.

Of the two, Boser (20-10-1) is vastly more experienced, both overall and in the UFC. He has almost four times the number of fights his foe has and has shared the Octagon with the likes of former heavyweight king Andrei Arlovski and ex-interim heavyweight champion Cyril Gane, while one of his 11 knockout victims is former interim light heavyweight title challenger Ovince St Preux. 

Five straight knockout wins to start his career earned Camur (6-2) a UFC call-up in 2020. Even in his debut win over Justin Ledet in 2020, the one-dimensional striker didn’t show much and it wasn’t a surprise that he went on to slump to 1-2 in the promotion. 

This could be a slow-paced 15-minute slog or end by knockout. Unfortunately, the former looks more likely. Either way, Boser’s more bankable and will lean on his experience to live to fight another day in the UFC.

Ignacio Bahamondes (1.43) v Ludovit Klein (2.90) (Lightweight)

In contrast to the struggling heavyweights who’ll follow them, the lightweight main card openers have caught fire and are looking to extend their unbeaten runs to four.

Bahamondes (14-4) has won three on the trot and displayed his dangerous diversity in the process, knocking out Roosevelt Roberts with a spinning wheel kick, submitting Rong Zhu with a rare Brabo choke and piecing up Trey Ogden in April.

Klein (19-4-1) clinched back-to-back decision wins over Devonte Smith and Mason Jones and fought to an unsatisfactory majority draw with Jai Herbert in March. 

Expect an exciting, all-action affair as Klein’s just as capable of producing thrilling finishes as his foe, “Mr Highlight” having eight knockouts and just as many submissions to his name. 

At 6’3″, Bahamondes is a lightweight unicorn and will tower over his 5’7″ opponent. “La Jaula” will also have a three-inch reach advantage and knows how to use it. Klein’s tough, though, so I expect Bahamondes to prevail on points.