Jean Matsumoto was supposed to be fighting Chris Gutierrez at UFC 313 in a few weeks, but has been moved to this card to fight Font because Dominic Cruz got injured and retired.
Because of the short notice, this fight will be at a catchweight of 140lbs instead of 135lbs. I don't think that matters at all here but did want to point it out. We are about to find out of Jean is the real deal or not. But before I pick Jean and say he wins here, I do want to remind you that Font is actually pretty good. He can't defend takedowns for shit, but his boxing is clean and tight. If Jean keeps this a striking match, it actually could be closer than we would like, but if he mixes in wrestling and power, he should run away with this. Jean is going to be the pick, i'm going to assume he has the cardio needed to mix things up, and when we have odds, i will likely put my money where my mouth is.
Rob Font
Rob Font is a gritty, tough and technical striker. He has a solid chin, but not a ton of power. He is primarily a boxer so he doesn't kick or wrestle often but he doesn't need to because his hands are clean, fast and he works in and out of the pocket before most fighters know what happened. He has fantastic volume at almost 6 significant strikes landed per minute and decent defense being hit by fewer than 4. He is coming off the loss to Kyler Philips where the striking was good enough to make up for 4 takedowns
Jean Matsumoto
Jean Matsumoto is a well rounded guy. In fact with black belts and accolades in multiple martial arts. He can initiate offensive takedowns as well with power doubles. If he is taken down and ends up on bottom, he stays busy and makes you work. He is a creative striker with a variety of kicks and counters. He does get hit though but is plenty tough and has plenty of cardio to push through. He is coming of the decision win over Brad Katona where he was taken down 3 times but showcased big power and clean striking reads where he was blasting Brad off of kicks.
