Rob Font defeated Cody Garbrandt in the main event of the UFC Fight Night held last night in Las Vegas. Font would earn this victory via unanimous decision, with one judge scoring 48-47 and the other two 50-45.
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This was the fourth straight win for Font (19-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) and the biggest one in his career. After defeating Sergio Pettis, Ricky Simon, and Marlon “Magic” Moraes, the 33-year old apparently earned the ticket to the title match following this victory.
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Font was holding the situation under control for most of the fight, steadily using his jab and boxing skills. At any given moment of the clash, the former CES MMA champion kept the distance between him and the rival, dictating the tempo and the pace.
On the other side, Garbrandt (12-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) was competitive in the first two rounds, but he obviously took more damage than Font. Over the third and fourth sequences, the former bantamweight champion had a slowdown and tried to compensate that with a major push in the fifth but without success. All of his attacks were rebuffed by Font without any particular problems.
This was the fourth loss in the past five matches for Garbrandt. In the previous clash, he defeated Raphael Assuncao, looking significantly better than in prior bouts. Even though he lost tonight’s contest as well, “No Love” showed that he might be on his way back up.
In the co-main event of the night, Carla Esparza ruthlessly defeated Yan Xiaonan, knocking out the rival at 2:58 of the second round. The former strawweight champion was very confident throughout the fight, looking sharp as ever.
Esparza (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) immediately took down the rival and was in control throughout the entire first round. It was the same in the second sequence, only this time, there was no horn to save Xiaonan (13-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC).
Following the bout, Esparza stated that she expects to have another title shot. The current champion of the division is Rose Namajunas, who recently regained her belt. Esparza holds a win over Namajunas in a match for the inaugural UFC strawweight title.
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-->One other news came from the organization. Paul Felder decided to retire following an impressive career. One of the most beloved fighters in the UFC revealed the news during last night’s event, suggesting that he lost the desire for further competing at the age of 37.
