Some late breaking news in the world of the UFC tonight. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was the first to break the news tonight that the promotion has finalized a main event for their Fight Night on May 22nd.
In the main event, we will see a matchup of top five bantamweights. Former UFC champion, Cody Garbrandt (12-3), will be taking on the surging contender, Rob Font (18-4). This matchup is huge for the bantamweight division.
Rob Font has risen all the way to the third spot in the rankings at bantamweight. Font did this on the heels of his tremendous knockout win over former UFC title challenger, Marlon Moraes. That fight took place back in December.
For Rob Font, the biggest issue has been his activity level. Font has three very impressive wins in his last three fights against Sergio Pettis, Ricky Simon, and Moraes. The problem is that those have been his only fights since December of 2018.
For Font to challenge for a UFC title, he has to stay healthy and active. This is a big step in the right direction and a huge opportunity for him. He’s getting to fight one of the biggest names in the division and a former UFC champion in a main event.
Change of plans for the former UFC champion
Cody Garbrandt returned at UFC 250 after taking more than a year off to get healthy. Garbrandt looked better than ever and scored one of the knockouts of the year against Raphael Assuncao.
However, after the fight, Garbrandt expressed interest in dropping to flyweight. In fact, the UFC booked him for a title fight in November at 125 pounds. However, Garbrandt sustained an injury and dealt with issues from COVID which forced him to pull out.
After sitting back and watching the end of the year unfold, Garbrandt decided to stay at bantamweight for now. He recently said that he still has visions of being the UFC flyweight champion, but with all the action at 135, he’s happy to stay at bantamweight. This is going to be a fantastic matchup and I think fans are going to be pumped.