Rob Font was originally slated to face young star Raul Rosas Jr. at Noche UFC on Saturday, but with Rosas out of the co-main event fight, David Martinez had been shifted up to the higher-profile match-up.
A New England Cartel member, Font had won his last two outings, and was entering off a decision win over Jean Matsumoto, coincidentally another short-notice replacement after Dominick Cruz dropped out of that match-up and subsequently retired. As for Martinez, the 27-year-old came in as one of Mexico’s highest touted prospects after winning his promotional debut by first-round KO in March.
ROUND 1: Font came out with his usual boxing stance and Martinez started kicking his lead leg right away. The savvy veteran started timing Martinez’s kicks with straight rights. Font, being the far more experienced of the two, fought Martinez like he didn’t respect him, going forward with no regards for the strikes coming back. Martinez then landed a couple nice combos, but Font answered with a right hand that echoed in the building. Font mixed in a couple takedown attempts to give the Mexican some different looks, but Martinez stuffed all of them. Martinez ended the round with a spinning wheel kick.
ROUND 2: The first half of the second round looked a lot like the first. Font was marching forward, while Martinez was kicking his leg and occasionally forcing a clinch to stop Font’s forward movement. Martinez ate a jab to land a nice left hook that momentarily put Font in a chair. Despite Martinez’s best efforts, he couldn’t keep Font off of him, but he made sure to avoid Font’s big swings. After two rounds, the live odds had the fight as pick’em and it wasn’t difficult to see why.
ROUND 3: Neither fighter feeling confident in the scoring, they both came out swinging with Martinez getting the better of the exchanges early in the round. Both fighters refused to take a step backward and with neither of them accepting to back up, they kept trading in the center of the cage. Martinez was showing his youthful exuberance as he took Font’s best shots while keeping his own volume up. The Mexican’s speed was still giving Font some troubles as he stunned Font in the final minute. The crowd got so loud when Martinez score the knockdown in the final 10 seconds that referee Dan Miragliotta didn’t hear the buzzer and they had to sound it a second time.
David Martinez was given the win and the prospect will now crack the division’s rankings after just two fights in the promotion.
Official Result: David Martinez def. Rob Font by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
