Bold predictions for the end of 2021 in MMA, including a defining moment for Rob Font

By the time fighters in Bellator and UFC return to their respective cages, on Friday and Saturday, the calendar will have flipped over to December. Although there are only a month’s worth of fights remaining in 2021, there’s still a lot left to be sorted out for both promotions.

A lot of what’s still hanging in the air comes down to the bantamweight division, arguably the deepest division in MMA right now. Rob Font, who has won four straight fights including victories over Cody Garbrandt, Marlon Moraes and Sergio Pettis, now takes on former UFC featherweight Jose Aldo. With a few fights left to be sorted in the UFC title picture, Font could line himself up for a title shot in the next 12 months if he continues his run through some legendary names.

Kyoji Horiguchi headlines Bellator 272 on Friday, as he looks to add the Bellator bantamweight championship to the Rizin bantamweight championship he won for the second time back in December 2020. If he’s successful, against current Bellator champ Pettis, it would be the second time he’s held both of those belts. If he’s successful on Friday, is Horiguchi the best men’s bantamweight fighter in the world?

In the co-main event on Saturday’s UFC card, Rafael Fiziev and Brad Riddell face off with major future implications at lightweight. The winner will enter 2022 on a major upward trajectory.

Finally, after a tough start to 2021 because of an eye poke against Leon Edwards, Belal Muhammad has a chance to surge towards the top of the 170-pound division. He beat Demian Maia in June, and he faces another accomplished veteran in Stephen Thompson on…