Boston’s Rob Font stepped in on a few weeks notice to face Cory Sandhagen in the UFC Nashville main event after Umar Nurmagomedov was forced to withdraw with an injury.
Font, the seventh-ranked bantamweight in the UFC, was originally scheduled to turn around after his knockout over Adrian Yanez and fight Song Yadong two weeks after this Nashville card but surely did not resent getting a higher ranked opponent in fourth-ranked Sandhagen. Cory came into this fight on a two-fight win streak over top contenders in Yadong and Chito Vera following his interim title shot loss to Petr Yan.
A three fight win streak could propel him into a title shot in his next fight, potentially for the vacant belt if Aljamain Sterling defends successfully against Sean O’Malley and then vacates after UFC 293. No matter who won, this bantamweight scrap between stellar strikers looked like a surefire banger on paper, but Cory switched the script up by bringing out his newfound wrestling chops to control Font for most of the fight.
Both men opened southpaw but switched stances prolifically from the opening bell. Sandhagen shot in on a takedown and landed it initially but Font tried to reverse him in a scramble, holding a front headlock. However, Cory was able to roll through and end up on top position; although he was stuck in a guillotine it was not really threatening him. Sandhagen soon freed his head. Font attacked a Kimura grip and used it to scramble to his feet. Font’s jab popped out continually but Sandhagen took him down again. Font tried to sweep and get back to his feet but Cory forced him from his knees to his back again. Rob refused to stay on his back and constantly tried to build to his feet or set up sweeps. Finally, with ninety seconds left in the round, Rob pushed Cory off and got back to his feet. Font pressed forward but Sandhagen used his lateral movement to stay mostly out of range of the jab and then dart in when he wanted to attack. Cory landed a big body kick with thirty seconds left but Font caught the kick and took the Sandman down off of it. Cory turned to his belly to build back up but was still in Font’s grasps when the round ended.
The second round started with Font pressing forward again and the same dynamic was perpetuated as Cory used lateral movement and darting attacks. Again Sandhagen shot in for an early takedown and landed it, landing in half-guard. Cory worked to pass the guard but Font stayed defensively sound, though he was unable to hit any of his sweep attempts despite having a butterfly hook. Sandhagen did not do massive damage from top but landed good strikes periodically, especially elbows, and smothered Font completely. With ninety seconds left Font tried for a Kimura but did not get close before being forced flat on his back again. The round ended with Sandhagen still on top after racking up over four minutes of control time.
Font landed some decent right hands early in the third round but forty-five seconds into the round the Sandman landed yet another takedown and utilized top half with underhooks to control the Bostonian. With two minutes left in the round Font almost executed a nice sweep but the agility and speed of Sandhagen let him regain top half again. He landed some big elbows on top before Font was able to execute a technical stand up with under a minute left in the round, but he had little time to make up the gap between them despite landing a good right hand in the dying seconds.
The championship rounds started the same way as all of the others except for Cory landing in the full guard of Rob Font instead of half. Font kept one butterfly hook for much of the round but was unable to elevate Cory enough to sweep him before Sandhagen stepped over and got into half guard. Font butt scooted the few feet back to the fence and tried to wall-walk but Cory stayed heavy on top. Rob pushed him off and almost got up at once point but Sandhagen jumped right back on top of him, tackling Font to the canvas in half guard. Font again sat up with his back to the fence and used it to start to stand up but Cory unbalanced him by holding his ankles. Font tried everything to escape but Cory was always a step ahead. Finally, with forty seconds left, Rob got to his feet but was still stuck in the clinch and Sandhagen was able to trip one leg out and get on top once again to close out the round.
Tyson Chartier tried everything to psych up his fighter between rounds for the final round of the fight and give him options for how to win the fight. Font came out pressing hard but Cory avoided the strikes thrown his way early on. Rob changed up the script by shooting a takedown of his own but Cory got his back to the fence, stuffed the head, and then threatened a guillotine. Font switched to a single leg attempt and tried to get Sandhagen off-balance but Cory escaped and landed a takedown of his own, his seventh of the fight. Font was against the fence and quickly sat up, trying to use it to stand once again. Cory was able to lock up a tight d’Arce choke attempt in a scramble. Font did all he could to escape it. He was stuck in it for quite a while but then managed to lock his hands around Cory’s leg and try to wrestle up, forcing Sandhagen to bail on the choke attempt and reassert his control from inside Font’s full guard. He quickly passed to half guard, a position he had used to dominate the fight, with just over a minute left. Font threw up a triangle choke attempt with thirty seconds left but did not really have it locked in, so Cory was able to escape and finish the fight safe on top.
The judges did not give any surprises when the scorecards were read, giving Cory Sandhagen a unanimous 50-45 decision. Sandhagen acknowledged the boos from the crowd in his post-fight interview, saying that he was forced to turn to wrestling after tearing his tricep in the first round.
Official Result: Cory Sandhagen def. Rob Font by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
