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There’s a very good case for bantamweight being the best division in MMA, even surpassing 155. When TJ Dillashaw was still on top, the division arguably featured a pound-for-pound top-3 talent, and the meteoric rise of prospects like Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen to the top-5 have strengthened it immensely. Before his loss in June, Marlon Moraes was cutting a swathe of destruction through a division that could’ve easily supported a pound-for-pound king claim with just a few more wins, and the champion Henry Cejudo has a number of compelling and unique challenges on the horizon (even ignoring his obligations at 125).

Or course, the mark of a strong division isn’t just the title scene, or else middleweight would be one of the deepest divisions around; what’s so special about bantamweight (and all the sub-170 men’s divisions) is that many non-elite fighters are still well-constructed and do interesting things. Two examples are Calvin Kattar at 145 and Francisco Trinaldo at 155, fantastic fighters who currently sit below the top-10, and Rob Font follows a similar trend.

After an active 2018 in which he went 2-1 (faltering in his attempt to reach the top-3 but further entrenching himself as around the top-12 or so), Font’s return in Washington DC comes after an ordeal in Greenville; originally slated to face Cody Stamann and then to rematch John Lineker, injuries cancelled both bouts. Fighting down for the second time in a row, Font is nevertheless not too far from being back in the talks as a bantamweight to watch. With a win on December 7th, The New Englander will likely be in position to fight up the rankings, with only interesting fights to choose from.

Immediate Impact

At first glance Font’s progression seems a bit rushed as after two fairly meaningless wins he got a big step-up against one of 135’s most dangerous contenders in John Lineker. While he lost that fight he showed some good things there and in both of his early wins, enough to cement him as a strong prospect moving forward. Lineker may have revealed some flaws in his game, but the strengths he showed in his early victories were still there albeit in need of further development.

Font’s debut was against George Roop. Roop was never a consistent winner but had a decent name across the UFC and the WEC 135/145 scenes. The best comparison for Roop may be Stefan Struve; impossibly lanky fighters for their divisions, who got one knockout that aged spectacularly before continuing to trade wins and losses against increasingly mediocre opposition. That said, for the fighter who Font turned out to be, a much rangier man is a peculiar challenge to start with. While he went on to be marked by a bit of a long-man approach himself, Font’s test against Roop was one of covering distance against someone looking to keep him on the outside.