MIAMI – Adrian Yanez sees a finish of Rob Font at UFC 287 taking his career to the next level.
Unbeaten in the octagon, Yanez (16-3 MMA, 5-0 UFC) faces a big step up in competition when he takes on Font (19-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) on Saturday’s featured main card bout at Kaseya Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
Font has lost his past two bouts, but Yanez knows not to underestimate him. He loves the forward-pressure style his opponent brings to the octagon, and will look to become the first to take Font out by strikes as he goes in with the “mindset of Marvin Hagler.”
“This guy has the never-die attitude and he’s going to keep getting up,” Font told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during Wednesday’s UFC 287 media day. “He’s been hurt multiple times, but he’s never been finished by TKO or knockout. He keeps coming back and he wants to get the win. He’s fighting tooth and nail. So it excites me because I know as soon as he gets dropped, he comes back and looks better the next round. So, I have to be ready at every second because this guy is gonna be non-stop coming forward.
“He’s ranked No. 6 in the world (in the UFC rankings). For me, if I go out there and starch him, be the first guy to put him out, I get his number. So that just skyrockets me into another stratosphere.”
Yanez had long been angling for a fight with Sean O’Malley, but the pair have yet to be matched up. Now that O’Malley is the No. 1 contender, Yanez thinks an emphatic finish of Font would build up their fight that much more.
Although Yanez wants to fight O’Malley as soon as possible, he doesn’t blame him for opting to sit out and wait for the winner between champion Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo, who meet for 135-pound gold at UFC 288 on May 6.
“As a fighter, I look at it as no, stay busy,” Yanez said. “Don’t sit down on the couch too much. But honestly, he’s earned it. He’s deserved it. He worked his way up there, he beat Petr Yan. Whether you think he won or not, he beat him. So yeah, he rightly deserves to sit out if he wants to.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
