UFC Vegas 99 Preview
UFC Vegas 99 takes place this Saturday, and the stakes are high in the co-main and main event. The co-main event consists of Kyler Phillips, who is looking to take home the biggest win of his career while breaking into the bantamweight top ten, and Rob Font, who has been in the cage with some of the best and is looking to get back on track after two consecutive losses. Then, in a very interesting main event with a clash of styles, the explosive striker Michel Pereira takes on the relentless grappler Anthony Hernandez.
As Rob Font gets older, this is a big fight in terms of getting to see which way the final stretch of his career goes. At 37 years old and coming off two losses in a row, he will need this win to continue fighting in that bantamweight top ten. While four of his last five fights have ended in losses for him, the competition he has faced is the top level. He took two losses to José Aldo and Marlon Vera, then won against Adrian Yanez, and finally, his most recent two fights were losses to Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo. On the other side of this matchup, you have Kyler Phillips, who is eight years younger than Font and currently on the best run of his career so far. Phillips made his UFC debut back in 2020 and took home the win against Gabriel Silva. He won his first three fights in the promotion, including a win over #8 ranked Song Yadong that has aged incredibly for him. After that win over Yadong, he suffered his first loss in the promotion via majority decision against Raulian Paiva. Even though he stumbled, Phillips was able to recover quickly and has rattled off three wins in a row since then. The most recent win on his record, over Pedro Munhoz, is the biggest win of his career so far, as it earned him the #12 spot in the bantamweight rankings. With a drop out of the top ten on the line for Font and a jump into the top ten on the line for Kyler Phillips, this fight is sure to be a high-level affair.
The main event between Michel Pereira and Anthony Hernandez is also a high-stakes fight, but the difference is that these men are fighting each other for a push as the new up-and-comer in the division. With Anthony Hernandez ranked #13 and Michel Pereira ranked #14, a win would likely mean an opportunity to fight a top ten opponent next, while a loss would mean a reset and having to put together a new win streak. Michel Pereira has gone on a crazy win streak since late 2020, winning eight fights in a row. However, there seems to be a big difference between welterweight Pereira and the new middleweight Pereira. While he was still getting wins at welterweight, he had only finished two of his eight fights and also took two losses. Since moving up to middleweight, Michel Pereira has already surpassed that amount of finishes in just three fights. All three fights have ended in under a minute and ten seconds, with one ending by knockout and two by submission. The powerful and creative striker will look to continue this new trend as he takes on his opposite, the gas tank-draining grappling specialist Anthony Hernandez. Hernandez made his UFC debut in 2019 and started it the same way as his opponent, with a win and two losses through three fights. After that second loss to Kevin Holland, Hernandez has won five straight fights and finished four of them. This run that put him on the map has been very impressive, with a submission win over “The Black Belt Hunter” Rodolfo Vieira and another surging fighter in Roman Kopylov. With a huge clash of styles and both guys being prolific finishers, the fans can expect an incredible bout between two fun fighters.