Rob Font is looking to continue riding his momentum at UFC 292.
Font (20-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) snapped a two-fight skid with a first-round Performance of the Night TKO of rising star Adrian Yanez in April at UFC 287.
Font draws Song Yadong (20-7-1 MMA, 9-2-1 UFC) on Aug. 19 at TD Garden in Boston. Font, a Massachusetts native, would have liked to fight a higher-ranked opponent and knows he’ll likely have to finish Yadong if he wants to climb up the bantamweight ladder.
“Obviously a win is huge, but I’ve got to get back to that finish to kind of have people wanting to see me more than anybody else,” Font told MMA Junkie Radio. “I think if I can go out there and get an impressive knockout, an impressive finish or even just an impressive fight, I think – I’ll be consistent with two finishes – I’ll be in that conversation. It just sucks that I am fighting backwards. This gets me close, but it’s not the one.”
Font was the betting underdog heading into his fight with Yanez, who was yet to lose in the octagon. The 36-year-old was happy to silence the doubters with his quick finish.
“They were building him up, and everyone was talking about him,” Font said. “He even was talking about fighting Sean O’Malley at the press conference or the media day instead of just obviously talking about our fight. It did feel a little disrespectful, but it comes with the territory.
“You lose two in a row, you sit out for a year, people forget. Then I just had to go out there and remind them. It felt like me and my team had a secret no one knew about. I was the betting underdog, and everybody was doubting me, and I just had to go out there and not just win but make a statement.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
