Sure, injuries and inactivity can prevent people from knowing your name, but Font has long been a guy with the goods to chase for the belt. In 12 UFC fights, his three losses have come against John Lineker, Pedro Munhoz and Raphael Assuncao. Although he picked up wins over Matt Schnell, Thomas Almeida and Ricky Simón along the way, it took a first-round knockout win over Marlon Moraes to really announce Font as a force at 135.
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That fight was also crucial because it was his first after undergoing ACL surgery. A year later, Font can once again make a statement. This time, it comes against former featherweight king José Aldo, an opponent Font admits he never really thought he’d face in his career.
“This like a dream come true,” Font said. “This is one of those big opportunities that we got to capitalize on and I’m excited. Jose’s the type of guy that I definitely didn’t think I would end up fighting.”
Since dropping his first two bantamweight bouts, Aldo has found his feet at 135 pounds, collecting a pair of decision wins over Marlon “Chito” Vera and Munhoz. Even though Aldo is one of the biggest names in the sport, Font isn’t coming into the fight with any hesitancy. He expects to spend the early portion of the fight making some reads, but in terms of respecting the legend too much, that’s not much of a concern.
Also giving Font confidence is his last fight against Garbrandt. Beyond the fact that he showed excellent defensive grappling and put on a jabbing clinic, Font embraced the unique circumstances of headlining a card, namely the cardiovascular test in the Octagon and the pomp and circumstance outside of it.