Matches to Make After UFC on ESPN 31

Jose Aldo finds ways to redefine himself, even as he piles up mileage on the odometer.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder pieced together his most comprehensive performance in recent memory, as he took a five-round unanimous decision from Rob Font in the UFC on ESPN 31 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Aldo carried all three scorecards—50-45, 50-45 and 49-46—and reasserted himself as a top contender in the loaded bantamweight division.

Font pursued a traditional path to victory against the Brazilian, leaning on pace and output while tipping his spear with a potent jab. Aldo reacted by using his world-class repertoire in glorious totality: power punches, leg kicks, takedowns, topside grappling and even an attempted submission. It all worked in concert beautifully, as he kept Font off-balance at times and had him reeling at others. The New England Cartel representative outlanded Aldo by wide margins in the first, second and third rounds but hit the deck twice and had no answer for the more than nine minutes of control time his seasoned counterpart accrued.

In the aftermath of UFC on ESPN 31 “Font vs. Aldo,” here are four matches that ought to be made:

Jose Aldo vs. T.J. Dillashaw: Given up for dead after back-to-back-to-back losses to Alexander Volkanovski, Marlon Moraes and Petr Yan between May 11, 2019 and July 11, 2020, Aldo has somehow managed to turn back time and revitalize his hall-of-fame career. The 35-year-old Nova Uniao cornerstone now finds himself on a three-fight winning streak—his longest tear in more than seven years—after turning away the surging and rightfully favored Font. Aldo made his intentions known afterward when he targeted the polarizing Dillashaw, who returned from a two-year suspension in July to eke out a contentious decision over Cory Sandhagen in the UFC on ESPN 27 main event.

Rafael Fiziev vs. Diego Ferreira-Mateusz Gamrot winner: Fiziev improved to 5-1 in the UFC and continued his climb to prominence at 155 pounds in the co-feature, where he cut down former training partner Brad Riddell with a third-round wheel kick. Riddell bowed out 2:20 into Round 3, suffering his first setback since July 2018. Fiziev was content to trade with the City Kickboxing standout and exacted a visible physical toll, as he hacked open a significant horizontal gash on the Christchurch, New Zealand, native’s left eyebrow with a standing elbow strike in the second round before sealing the deal with his spectacular kick in the third. Ferreira and Gamrot will toe the line against one another at UFC Fight Night 199 on Dec. 18.

Jamahal Hill vs. Da Un Jung: The once-defeated Hill rebounded from his first professional defeat—a technical knockout loss to Paul Craig on June 12—with a sub-minute knockout of Jimmy Crute in the first round of their light heavyweight showcase. Crute succumbed to punches 48 seconds into Round 1. Hill floored the Aussie with a right hook, then drew the curtain with a dagger of a standing-to-ground right hand. The Chicago native looks like a potential leader of a new crop of talent at 205 pounds. Jung, 27, last appeared at UFC Fight Night 197, where he put away Kennedy Nzechukwu with a volley of elbows in the first round of their Nov. 13 pairing. The South Korean prospect currently rides a 15-fight (14-0-1) unbeaten streak.

Chris Curtis vs. Brad Tavares: Curtis authored the latest chapter in his Cinderella story, as he buried former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Brendan Allen with knees and punches in the second round of their middleweight feature. Allen met his end 1:58 into Round 2, his modest two-fight winning streak having run its course. Curtis backed up a left hook to the body with a debilitating right upstairs, then pressed the Sanford MMA rep to the fence and unleashed his ordnance until the job was done. The 34-year-old Cincinnati native has breathed life into his career with seven straight wins, six of them by knockout or technical knockout. Tavares last competed on July 10, when the ever-dependable Hawaiian escaped his UFC 264 confrontation against Omari Akhmedov with a split decision.