Aldo would later suffer the same injury on the opposite eye, but he took the punishment lead by breaking Font’s nose, and with years of elite-level experience, the Brazilian knew just what he needed to do to get the win. And he got it, winning the main event bout via scores of 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.
“It was a solid first round and I just got caught early and couldn’t really recover from there,” Font said. “From there, like a true champion and veteran, he was smart with his energy and just picked his shots. Hurting me so early in the first round, everything else he touched me with was hurting me. I’m getting hit with shots that I usually take pretty easily and now my legs are all over the place, I’m seeing three Aldos and trying to figure it out, and before you know it, the last bell rings and the fight’s over.”
FREE FIGHTS: Rob Font vs Marlon Moraes | Marlon Vera vs Frankie Edgar
The defeat was Font’s first in over three years. In the time after his decision loss to Raphael Assuncao in July 2018, the New Englander won four straight, defeating Sergio Pettis, Ricky Simon, Marlon Moraes and Cody Garbrandt, with each victory more impressive than the last as he moved from contender to title threat. Then Aldo showed up, but Font wasn’t about to start complaining about what fate had brought him.
“I believe feeling sorry for yourself is a waste of time,” he said. “Everybody has their problems, everybody has their issues. S**t happens, get over it and move forward.”
He’s done it before and he’ll do it again, beginning this Saturday in his third consecutive main event against Marlon Vera. Moving forward is in his DNA, and those aren’t just words for the 34-year-old. And after he gave similar advice to his New England Cartel teammate Calvin Kattar after the featherweight contender’s loss to Max Holloway, he has to lead by example.