Hometown Hero Rob Font (11-1) Looks To Continue His Brilliance at UFC Fight Night Boston

Photo by Nick Cosky https://www.nickcoskyphotography.com

UFC Bantamweight Rob Font (11-1) – training out of famed Sityodtong gym in Somerville, Massachusetts – will face Homestead, Florida native Patrick Williams (8-4) at UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz on January 17th, 2016 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

Since making his professional MMA debut in December 2011, Font has turned heads with his confidence and pure ability to string together multiple martial arts with ease. His sole professional loss came in his second fight – a unanimous decision to Bellator Season Ten Featherweight Finalist and former Titan FC Featherweight champion Desmond Green (15-5) in April 2012.

In August 2013 and his eighth professional fight, Font won the vacant CES Featherweight Championship against Chris Foster (8-4) – a card which featured Sityodtong teammate Dinis Paiva, Jr. (7-6) as well as fellow UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz competitor and Boston, Massachusetts native Charles Rosa (10-2).

In July 2014, Font made his UFC debut on the UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida card and defeated veteran George Roop (15-12) with a knockout punch in the very first round – his tenth win in a row and was awarded Performance of the Night for his debut.

In August 2014, Font was injured and forced to withdraw from his scheduled second UFC fight: a match-up with Chris Beal (10-2) on the UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs. Mousasi card in September 2014. Beal – who made his own UFC debut with a knockout win over Patrick Williams in April 2014 – went on to defeat current Sityodtong teammate Tateki Matsuda (11-7).

Healed and hungry, Font will now face Williams on the third-ever UFC card to be held in Boston, Massachusetts. Mark DellaGrotte – Muay Thai legend and Owner / Head Coach at Sityodtong – has the twenty-eight year-old Font primed for another highlight-reel victory and has assisted Font in his dynamism.

Before a recent Sityodtong class, Font took the time to discuss his love for boxing, his teammates and his expectations for performing on the UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz card in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17th, 2016.

ON BOXING

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I love boxing. I’m not going to lie and say I’m a lifelong boxing fan like most people say. I didn’t start watching boxing until maybe eighth grade or something like that. So I’ve been doing that. I’ve been kind of watching it here and there as far as when I was younger. But when I got a little bit more into it, then I started doing the research on all the older guys, the legends. The Bernard Hopkins’, the Roy Jones’.

I love it, man. I appreciate how hard it is to get to a certain level like a Mayweather or “Triple G“, who’s killing everybody right now. Canelo – guys like that. I appreciate and understand how hard that is, because I’ve sparred with boxers before and they’re on a different level. I definitely love boxing.

I’m Puerto Rican, so they love Miguel Cotto, Trinidad – all those guys.

I definitely love to train boxing. I like the fact that they’re taught to hit and not get hit. Sometimes you get into these Thai fights where it’s just back-and-forth: “I kick you, you kick me. I kick you, you kick me.” I’m not trying to get hit. I’m trying to hit you as much as possible, make you miss and then hit you again. So I do appreciate that part of it.

Huge boxing fan. I do a lot of boxing training at least twice a week – just pure boxing training and I love it.

ON ADMIRED COMBAT ATHLETES
For boxing: I like Miguel Cotto’s style. His hands are always high. He has a real disciplined style; not too flashy. Hands are not necessarily down; great footwork. He makes every single punch count.

ON PATRICK WILLIAMS
He has a funky style, I believe. He’s definitely not a classic-type striker. Awesome wrestler, Division I wrestler. I believe he was an Arizona State wrestler or wrestled out in Arizona. He has knockout power. His last submission I think made history, as far as fastest submission in Bantamweight history.

But I feel like my footwork’s going to be huge on this one. My IQ – just knowing when to strike, when not to strike. When to be there, when to grapple with him is going to be there as far as me beating him.

ON FIGHTING IN BOSTON

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I think it’s huge. I love how passionate the Boston fans are. It was funny, we were talking about it the other day: I’m from Tampa and the Buccaneers suck every year. And it’s horrible; I don’t think they’re even .500 this year. Winston’s doing his thing, but… So I’m used to the teams always losing. The Rays didn’t get too good until maybe a couple years back.

And I know the Boston fans, it could go either way: it could be great or it could be bad. Because they’re going to either boo you or really get behind you. So I’m real excited to fight in Boston; the TD Garden is literally ten-fifteen minutes down the road, so I feel like I’m fighting at home.

I’ve been here for a while, so I feel like I’m a Boston guy. I came up in MMA in Massachusetts so hopefully I can get the fans behind me and be up there with the Lauzon’s and the Florian’s and those guys like that.

ON SITYODTONG
Real close group. We’re always busting each other’s balls, but it’s all in good fun. It’s awesome.

The best thing about Boston is it’s a boxing town; they’re real big on boxing. So there’s a couple gyms that come out and help us out.

ON STAYING ACTIVE
I would love to stay active. Obviously for the money; I’m not going to lie: I’m a prizefighter. I’m not going to act like this is not for the money. Obviously it’s definitely for a passion, but I realize I can make money doing this; I was like, “Why the hell not?” So that will always help.

Staying active will keep my name out there, so outside-of-the-cage opportunities will definitely come up. And just I don’t want to sit out for six months – who the hell wants to do that? Just staying active, just having fun, not getting bored. And staying in the gym is the best feeling.

Follow me on Twitter: @RobSFont / Instagram: @RobFont / Facebook: @RobFont. I just want to say thank you and hopefully I can get those Boston people behind me. I love it out here in Boston and definitely want to get them on my team.