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UFC on ESPN 50 is set to get going this weekend from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday, August 5 at 9 p.m. ET. There is a six-bout main card highlighted by a 140-pound catchweight fight between Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font. Also notable on the main card is a woman’s strawweight fight between Jessica Andrade and Tatiana Suarez.
Sandhagen (16-4) comes into Saturday on a two-fight win streak with a stoppage win over Song Yadong in September 2022 and a split decision win over Marion Vera on March 25. He would love to get an impressive win Saturday to be in consideration for a future title shot depending on how the upcoming fight between Aljamain Sterling and Shawn O’Malley goes. Sandhagen is ranked No. 4 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.
Font (20-6) was on the downswing after consecutive losses to Vera and Jose Aldo and took nearly a year off from the octagon after the Vera loss. He was a big underdog against Adrian Yanez at UFC 287 but won by first-round knockout and earned a Performance of the Night bonus. The Yanez win has Font back in the mix and ranked No. 7 in the bantamweight division. A win Saturday could vault him into the top five.
How to watch Cory Sandhagen vs. Rob Font
Date: Saturday, August 5
Fight time: Main card starts at 9 p.m. ET
Live stream: ESPN+
DraftKings Sportsbook Odds/Predictions
Sandhagen: -355
Font: +280
Splits: 90% of handle, 86% of bets on Sandhagen
Font is a late addition to this fight after Umar Nurmagomedov had to pull out because of a shoulder injury. The originally scheduled bout was likely to be a bantamweight title eliminator. This might still be an eliminator match for Sandhagen, who could find himself with a title shot if he wins. A would win put Font back in the top five after going through a small slump. Font is riding high after a knockout win over Adrian Yanez and he’s going to come into the fight with a lot of confidence. Sandhagen isn’t going to leave the sort of openings Yanez did and will be more than willing to take the fight to the ground if Font is showing to be too tough on his feet. Font is going to go for a quicker finish, I think he’d like to win within three rounds. Sandhagen wants to drag him past the third round and Font is likely to run out of gas at that point. This should be a competitive bout with Sandhagen winning by fourth-round stoppage.