Ricky Simon hasn’t been paying much attention to what opponent Rob Font has been saying ahead of UFC DC. But he does feel it would be a mistake to look past him.
Washington, D.C. — Ricky Simon (15-2) was stopped in his tracks by Urijah Faber at UFC Sacramento. That put a halt to an eight-fight win streak. But Simon remains a solid prospect in the 135lb weight class, and he returns this weekend at UFC on ESPN 7 opposite 10th ranked Rob Font.
The loss didn’t sit well with Simon, he told media outlets including Cageside Press at the event’s media day. “Yeah of course. I’ve been competing my entire life, so losses suck. I take them hard.”
This particular loss came at a rather awkward time for Simon, however. Admitting he took a day to wallow in his sorrows, he added that “it was tough, because the next day we were off to our honeymoon that we had postponed. It was kind of hard to sit there and be sad when we were on the beach in Mexico.”
The honeymoon itself, however, “was great. I got drunk and far for a week, so it was great.”
As far as any takeaways, it was “just a learning experience,” said Simon. “I feel like I’ve talked about it so much, I’ve done so many interviews since then.” The biggest lesson learned was that “I got excited out there, and I paid the price.”
Font being ranked 10th isn’t a bad bounce back fight for Simon, who remains unranked himself. “I was trying to get a fight by the end of the year, so really I was open to anybody,” he told Cageside Press. “But ranked opponent, you can’t beat that. I was asking for that fight against Font after I beat Rani Yahya last February in Australia. So I’m glad it finally came together.”
Of course, Font has seemingly been focused more on Cody Stamann, who he was supposed to fight over the summer, than on Simon in recent interviews. Asked about whether he was being overlooked, Simon answered that “I haven’t paid attention to anything he’s been talking about. I don’t know how he’s feeling, and if he’s trying to look past me, that’s a big huge mistake.”
Watch the full UFC DC media day press scrum with Ricky Simon above!
