What a difference a day can make. Ahead of UFC Vegas 53, much of the talk had been about Rob Font and Marlon Vera competing for a spot in the title picture. Not the next title shot, but moving into the top five, potentially, and making their mark.
Then, Font missed weight for the match-up at Friday morning’s weigh-in. Suddenly, the story was more about what had gone wrong for Font, and whether Vera could capitalize.
Font appeared focused to start things off Saturday night, getting his boxing going early. If the weight cut had sapped him, it certainly wasn’t showing. His jab was on point; Vera’s approach was to chop at his opponent’s lead leg with calf kicks. Other than that, it was all Font through the opening round.
In the second half of the round, Vera went to the body with kicks; Font fired uppercuts, and doubled up on his jab. Font landed the uppercut repeatedly, while Vera covered up. Font added a knee up the middle just before the horn.
Round two saw Font continue to work his boxing, landing a left hook and walking Vera down. When Vera tried to push back, Font caught a kick and nearly dumped him. The low kicks for Vera continued, however, and he flashed a head kick. Suddenly, or not so suddenly really, things were a little more back-and-forth. Font began mixing in his own low kicks, and fired a 1-2; Vera split Font’s guard with a jab. A cracking kick to the body crashed into Font’s side, but he pressed on. Font fired a combo, finishing it with a left hand. Briefly clinching up, Font fired a knee.
Towards the end of the round, Vera had Font hurt! A left hook did the damage, Font wobbled, and dove in on a leg, wild. Vera got on top, trying to drop elbows, but the round came to an end.
The finish to round two led to Font shooting for a takedown to open the third. He got a hook in and tried to take the back with Vera up against the fence, but Vera turned it around. Back at center, they’d trade some kicks, but Vera was making it a much closer fight, even as Font continued to fire combinations. Vera popped Font with a left hand at the midway point of the round. In the second half, Font would rip the body, and turn up the volume, but Vera seemed unfazed by any of it. A jump knee by Vera then hurt Font at the end of the round! He dropped, and just as in the first, Vera finished the round on top, looking for the finish.
Rob Font almost certainly had to be compromised to start round four. He still continued to press forward with his boxing, going body-head and looking to land an uppercut. He put a clinch on, but ate an elbow off the break from Vera.
As the fourth round progressed, Vera struck again, well ahead of the final minute this time. He connected with a head kick, and dropped Font! Nearly two minutes left in the round, Vera had all kinds of time to find the finish — and instead he found himself stuck in no man’s land, standing and firing kicks at the kegs of Font. Not getting on top, not letting him up. The ref finally made the decision for Vera, standing them up.
They made it to round five, with Font having been dropped in three consecutive rounds, by three different methods. Font was now looking like something out of a horror movie, face battered and bruised. Despite the volume Font had thrown, Vera was comparatively unscathed. In the final couple of minutes, Vera began relying on his movement, while Font moved forward and ripped another uppercut. Vera then cracked Font which a side kick up top! Font was wobbled, retreating, but Vera raised his hand and began celebrating before the horn brought things to a close.
After a five-round war and one of the best bantamweight fights of 2022 (and one of the best fights period), Vera claimed the unanimous decision win. His third straight, and arguably the best performance of his UFC career.
Official Result: Marlon Vera def. Rob Font by unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
