Rob Font Knows He Must Be Patient Following Win in UFC Fight Night 188 Main Event

Rob Font is in the midst of the best stretch of his professional MMA career.

The Boston native secured his fourth straight triumph in the UFC Fight Night 188 headliner, as he outstruck ex-champion Cody Garbrandt for five rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. During his current run, Font has also earned wins over current Bellator king Sergio Pettis, Ricky Simon and Marlon Moraes. The Team Sityodtong representative is glad to have a breakthrough after coming up short on big fights earlier in his career.

“I’ve had these opportunities before and didn’t capitalize on them,” Font said. “I’ve got the [John] Lineker fights, the [Raphael] Assuncao fights, and the [Pedro] Munhoz fights, so this obviously I’m proud of what I’ve done, but I feel like it’s just like, alright, finally. I should have done it before. I’ve got this second chance and I’m just taking advantage of the second chance.”

Font came through in a big way at UFC Fight Night 188, as he kept “No Love” on his heels for the majority of the 25-minute affair. All told, he landed 176 significant strikes, the second most ever in a UFC bantamweight fight. It was a performance that prompted Garbrandt to tie a UFC career best with three takedowns landed.

“No surprises. He was quick. He was fast. He hit hard,” Font said of Garbrandt. “I was a little surprised on the takedowns, as far as I figured he would try to keep it there and advance position, and instead he just wanted to get up and start striking. It was almost like he didn’t really want the takedown.”

In the past, Garbrandt was known for his penchant to engage in slugfests, a tendency that resulted in three consecutive knockout losses. On Saturday, he didn’t show a similar level of aggression until the fifth round, but Font was able to survive that final surge to make it to the finish line.

“I was like, ‘Has he been playing with me this whole time? Is he about to turn it on now?'” Font said. “But after that little burst happened, I backed him up a couple times with the jab, hit a couple of body shots and just slowed down. It was like, ‘All right. Keep it here. Don’t go too crazy. Don’t try to brawl with him. His only chance to win is knocking me out.’ It worked out.”

Now, Font appears to be near the top of the bantamweight division. But he’ll have to wait until Ajamain Sterling defends the belt against Petr Yan in a rematch later this year to see how the title picture unfolds.

“I think Aljamain might be a tougher puzzle to solve,” Font said. “Petr Yan’s similar to Cody. You know, stay long, long jab, and then run into something big. Aljamain’s a little trickier because of the wrestling and his length. But Aljamain, same thing, I think it will be boxing him up, stop a couple of takedowns and then straight box him up. And then same thing for Petr Yan. Just not get hit with big shots and box him up as well.”

Regardless of what the future holds, Font isn’t interested in fighting a lower-ranked opponent in the name of staying busy.

“I definitely don’t want to fight backwards,” Font said. “I’ve learned patience. I’ll be patient.”