Per sources, Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove)
vs. Rob Font (@RobSFont).
May 22. Five rounds. Main event. Sick fight … Who you got?
pic.twitter.com/mAWt96o1jk— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN)
March 19, 2021
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight
tilt is finding its way to a headliner near you in May. Late Thursday night, ESPN
announced that Rob Font (18-4)
would be squaring off with Cody
Garbrandt (12-3) for major bantamweight divisional implications
atop the UFC
Fight Night event on May 22. The card does not yet have a
destination or venue set, and it is unclear if the promotion will
continue to use the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville,
Fla., following its trip there for UFC 261 in April.
Font has surged since a decision loss to Raphael
Assuncao in 2018, taking two decisions over Sergio
Pettis and Ricky Simon
before smashing Marlon
Moraes at the end of 2020. Boston native Font started out his
UFC tenure with stoppages in each of his five wins, including
blistering knockouts of George Roop
and Thomas
Almeida on the way up the division. Font is currently riding
the lengthiest win streak of his UFC career.
Garbrandt made his last appearance a memorable one, taking on
perennial contender Assuncao and wiping him out with one punch in
June 2020. The one-shot knockout, which would otherwise have been
in contention for “Knockout of the Year,” fell short to Joaquin
Buckley’s spectacular spinning back kick of Impa
Kasanganay. The victory for the former champ snapped a
three-fight knockout loss skid, where he lost his belt to T.J.
Dillashaw, failed to win it back in a rematch, and was blasted
by Pedro
Munhoz in 2019. “No Love” has competed just once per year since
2017.
The UFC Fight Night card on May 22 will take place at an
undisclosed location with a headliner pitting Font against
Garbrandt. Additional major bouts on the event include a potential
women’s strawweight title eliminator match between Xiaonan Yan
and Carla
Esparza, while Felicia
Spencer and Danyelle
Wolf may compete in the final women’s featherweight bout if
former title challenger Megan
Anderson’s claim is accurate.
