Bantamweights take center stage this weekend when no. 4 Rob Font takes on no. 5 Jose Aldo in the main event of UFC Vegas 44 on December 4, 2021, at the UFC’s APEX Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Font will bring his four-fight winning streak and test the legend Aldo in the main event. The former UFC featherweight champion has won back-to-back fights after losing three in a row to start his bantamweight career.
Meanwhile, an exciting lightweight showdown between Brad Riddell and Rafael Fiziev will be the co-main event of the evening. Veterans Clay Guida and Leonardo Santos will also fight each other in the main card.
The main card will be preceded by an exciting prelims undercard that features both veterans and up-and-comers. Let’s take a look at the prelims bouts and make our predictions.
Maki Pitolo is a former Victory FC welterweight champion who also fought for Destiny MMA, Cage Fury, and Bellator before joining the UFC in 2019. Pitolo earned his UFC contract by defeating Justin Michael Sumter at the Contender Series 19 program. Pitolo is 1-4 inside the UFC octagon and has lost his last three bouts, including an anaconda choke submission defeat at the hands of Julian Marquez.
Pitolo has a record of 13-8 with seven knockouts and three submission wins. He stands 5-10 tall with a reach of 75 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance.
Dusko Todorovic is a former Serbian Battle Championship middleweight champion. The 27-year old Serbian joined the UFC last year after he was given a contract following his Contender Series 26 win over Teddy Ash. Todorovic defeated Dequan Townsend in his UFC debut but has since lost back-to-back bouts against Punahele Soriano and Gregory Rodrigues.
Todorovic has a record of 10-2 with six knockouts and three submission wins. He stands 6-1 tall with a 74-inch reach and fights out of the orthodox stance.
Pitolo is feast and famine inside the Octagon. When he’s firing from all cylinders, he’s a destructive boxer. If he starts to miss, then everything else goes downhill for him. In his only UFC win against Charles Byrd, Pitolo was losing in round one before Byrd imploded in the second round.
Todorovic isn’t spectacular. He is however effective with his grappling. He is a decent grinder who can keep Pitolo at bay or even guess. There’s a chance Pitolo catches Todorovic in an uncompromising situation. But after how he’s failed bettors in recent fights, I’d take my chance on Todorovic here.
Prediction: Dusko Todorovic
Jake Matthews began his career in Australia, fighting for Shamrock Events and Australia Fighting Championships. He was a competitor at The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs Australia tournament where he lost in the opening round. Despite that, he earned a contract and began fighting under the promotion in 2014. Matthews is 6-2 in his last eight UFC bouts but is coming off a loss to Sean Brady.
Matthews has a record of 17-5 with seven knockouts and four submission wins. He is 5-11 tall with a 73-inch reach and is an orthodox fighter.
Jeremiah Wells is a veteran of PA Cage Fight, CES MMA, and Cage Fury Fighting Championships. The 35-year old from West Hazleton, Pennsylvania joined the UFC this year and scored a sensational knockout win over veteran Warlley Alves in his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 190 last June 26th. Wells has won six out of his last seven bouts overall.
He has a record of 9-2 with four knockouts and three submission wins. Wells is 5-9 tall with a 74-inch reach and fights as a switch hitter.
Matthews looks to be the more skilled fighter between these two, especially on the feet. His kickboxing is miles ahead of Wells’ wild swinging punches. The latter also doesn’t have the punching power that troubled Matthews in previous bouts.
Wells puts up a frenetic pace but doesn’t sustain it and always needs a quick ending to get the victory. Matthews should be skilled enough to avoid getting caught. We haven’t seen Matthews take much damage in the UFC. He’s going to sprawl and brawl his way to victory here.
Prediction: Jake Matthews
Manel Kape is the former Rizin Bantamweight champion and Knockout Championship Bantamweight champion. The 28-year old from Luanda, Angola joined the UFC in 2020 on a four-fight deal. Due to the pandemic, he only started fighting inside the Octagon this year, losing his first two bouts against Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau. In his most recent bout, Kape finally picked up his first UFC win, stopping Ode’ Osbourne at UFC 265.
Kape is 16-6 with 10 wins by knockout and five via submission. He is a southpaw fighter who is 5-5 tall and has a 68-inch reach.
Zhumagulov is a former Fight Nights Global flyweight champion who joined the UFC last year. The 33-year old from Kazakhstan lost his first two UFC fights against Raulian Paiva and Amir Albazi. At UFC 264 last July, he picked up his first UFC win by defeating Jerome Rivera via submission. He has notable wins over Tyson Nam and Ali Bagautinov while still at FN Global.
The Kazakh fighter has a record of 14-5 with seven knockouts and one submission victory. He is 5-4 tall with a reach of 66 inches and is a switch hitter.
Zhumagulov gives up two inches in height and two inches of reach to Kape. However, his relentless fighting style could pose a problem for Kape who had issues with volume in his past bouts. If Kape doesn’t pick up the pace here, Zhumagulov could end up outworking him here.
However, if Kape fixes that volume issue, then this is going to be a dominant win for him. Kape has more power, has a more diverse striking attack, and an advantage in reach. I think Kape picks apart Zhumagulov from a distance en route to a clear decision win.
Prediction: Manel Kape
Mallory Martin is a veteran of Invicta FC who also fought under LFA. The 27-year old from Denver, Colorado joined the UFC in 2019 but lost her debut against Virna Jandiroba. She bounced back to submit Hannah Cifers at UFC Vegas 8 but lost her last bout against Polyana Viana via armbar.
Martin is 7-4 with two knockouts and two submission wins. She is an orthodox fighter who stands 5-4 tall and has a reach of 63 inches.
Cheyanne Buys is a former interim BTC strawweight champion. The 26-year old known as the Warrior Princess also fought under LFA before appearing in the Contender Series where she defeated Hilarie Rose to earn her UFC contract. After losing her UFC debut against Montserrat Ruiz, she bounced back to stop Gloria de Paula last July 31st in a Performance of the Night-winning display.
Buys has a record of 6-2 with two knockouts. She is a switch hitter who stands 5-3 tall and has a 63-inch reach.
Martin is taking this fight on three days’ notice, replacing Monserrat Ruiz who pulled out from the bout. Interestingly, Ruiz dominated Martin on the mat as the latter lost her UFC debut. But in her next bout, Martin knocked out Gloria de Paula to showcase he strength on the feet.
But the de Paula bout showed some defensive issues that might plague Martin against Buys. Buys is the better stand-up fighter between the two and has decent grappling to give her an edge if Martin chooses to wrestle. Unless her recent COVID-19 infection has sapped her skills away, I’m picking Buys to beat Martin here.
Prediction: Cheyanne Buys
Alonzo Menifield formerly fought under Bellator and the Legacy Fighting Alliance. The 34-year old from Los Angeles, California joined the Contender Series 3 in 2017 and picked up a KO win over Dashawn Boatwright which led to a UFC contract. Menifield is 4-2 inside the UFC Octagon and has won his last two bouts, including a unanimous decision against Ed Herman in his last bout at UFC 265.
Menifield has a record of 11-2 with 8 knockouts and two submission victories. He is an orthodox fighter who stands six feet tall with a reach of 76 inches.
William Knight is a former Premier FC light heavyweight champion. The 33-year old from Manchester, Connecticut appeared twice in the Contender Series, picking up two wins including a TKO of Cody Brundage. He defeated Aleksa Camur in his UFC debut but was beaten by Da Un Jung in his second bout. In his most recent UFC appearance, Knight knocked out Fabio Cherant last August 21st.
Knight is 10-2 with 9 knockouts. He is 5-10 tall with a reach of 73 inches and is an orthodox fighter.
Menifield is the much bigger fighter here with a two-inch height and three-inch reach advantage against Knight. Although Menifield isn’t a precise striker, he has the more cohesive and effective striking attack here.
Knight meanwhile, remains a poor boxer and hasn’t seem to have improved since their first meeting. He does have good punching power and is going to get the KO here if Menifield willingly engages in the clinch. I think Menifield will fight from the outside, using his reach advantage. He will go for Knight’s led leg to slow him down. Once Knight becomes a stationary target, Menifield lands that big right hand.
Prediction: Alonzo Menifield
Alex Morono is the former Legacy FC welterweight champion. The 31-year old from Houston, Texas joined the UFC in 2016 but after winning his first two UFC bouts, he went 2-2-1 in his next five bouts. Morono is 6-2 in his last eight bouts and has won two in a row against Donald Cerrone and David Zawada.
Morono has a record of 20-7 with six knockouts and six submission wins. He is an orthodox fighter who is 5-11 tall and has a reach of 72 inches.
Mickey Gall joined the UFC in 2016 and became an instant celebrity when he defeated CM Punk in the latter’s UFC debut at UFC 203. Gall defeated Sage Northcutt in his next bout but has since alternated between a loss and win in his next six bouts. He is coming off a rear-naked choke of Jordan Williams last July.
Gall is 7-3 with six of his wins coming via submission. He is a switch hitter who stands 6-2 tall with a reach of 74 inches.
Gall has won the majority of his fights via submission, usually via rear naked choke. Unfortunately for him, Morono has never been submitted. While we’ve seen opponents take Morono down, he doesn’t stay on the ground too long and always finds a way to get back to his feet.
Now the problem starts there for Gall. Once Morono gets the fight back up, his aggression is going to zap the energy and tire Gall, and empty his gas tank. Morono is by no means an elite fighter but he has the toolbox to beat Gall easily.
Prediction: Alex Morono
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