Athletes
Rob Font: ‘I Need To Remind Everybody That I’m Still Here’
UFC Bantamweight Rob Font Is Thrilled With The Opportunity That Comes With A High-Profile Fight Against Former Flyweight Champion Deiveson Figueiredo At UFC Austin.
In July of 2024, Rob Font will be able to say that he’s been in the UFC for an entire decade.
He’s worked his way through the bantamweight rankings, headlined events, and he’s experienced all the ups and downs that come with fighting at the sport’s highest level. At this point, the New England Cartel captain is impervious to being thrown off by a fight week interview question.
So, it wasn’t off base to jump right into what Font thinks happened in his lopsided loss to Cory Sandhagen a few months back at UFC Nashville.
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“I forgot how to wrestle, bro,” Font laughed off the opening question.
“Obviously losing like that, it sucks. It hurt. It was a big opportunity in front of a big crowd in a big arena and it wasn’t overwhelming,” Font said to UFC.com. “It feels like I fumbled the ball. I had an opportunity to put my name right into that title conversation and I just fumbled it.”
What seemed to get lost in Font’s loss to Sandhagen is that he had stepped up on short notice to take that fight against one of the contenders that many believe is amongst the true elite fighters in the division.
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But Font’s not the type to make excuses. Instead, the 36-year-old asked for another challenge and another chance to insert his name into the bantamweight title conversation. That next challenge comes this weekend in Texas when Font will face former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.
“I’m going to get right back in there with Deiveson Figueiredo,” Font said. “It’s another huge opportunity, another ex-champion, and obviously, once we got back from Tennessee, we got right back to work.
“It’s great because it’s one of those things where you better be careful what you ask for. We asked for this fight after the Miami fight (against Adrian Yanez) but, for some reason, it didn’t happen. It’s happening now. This guy is a beast, he’s been in there for four fights straight with Brandon Moreno, so we know exactly what we are getting into.”
Font is expecting the former flyweight champion to be a little shorter and to give up a little reach in their fight, but he doesn’t think Figueiredo’s size disadvantage will prevent his foe from coming forward and trying to be the bully.
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Coming off a title fight defeat and with most of the year to prep for his move up to bantamweight, Font knows that Figueiredo is looking to make an immediate statement this weekend.
And he can’t let him make that statement off his name.
“I know he’s hungry. I’m pretty sure he’s tired of cutting weight, too, so he’s going to be comfortable. He’s going to feel like this is his weight class and his house, and I’m going to prove him wrong,” Font said. “I just got to pick my angles, find that chin, put him down, and get that W.”
Rob Font | Greatest Hits
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Rob Font | Greatest Hits
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Shutting down Figueiredo’s first step into the UFC’s bantamweight waters would be an excellent bounce-back performance for Font. Doing it in emphatic fashion would flip the script after what happened against Sandhagen, but more importantly, Font is focused on winning by sticking to what’s successful.
If his jab is landing every time he throws it, he wants to pepper Figueiredo with the jab. If his leg kicks are finding the mark, he’s going to beat up Figueiredo’s leg. If his cross is connecting with ease, he’s going to keep throwing the cross.
You get the picture, and so does Font.
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Staying focused on being focused is a major key for him in this fight and in every fight. That’s a key thing that Font figured out after the fight with Sandhagen, and he is going to make sure that he’s dialed in on fight night to secure a Texas-sized win.
“This is another big opportunity coming off a loss and I need to remind everybody that I’m still here,” Font said. “I’m still hunting for that belt.
“A big knockout win over Deiveson Figueiredo, ex-world champion, puts me right there.”
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