Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight knockout artists Rob Font and Adrian Yanez will square off this weekend (Sat., April 8, 2023) at UFC 287 inside Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida.
This is very much a crossroads match. Font rose high up the Bantamweight ladder before crashing into his ceiling, a pair of damaging defeats to Jose Aldo and Marlon Vera that saw Font knocked down several times in each fight. He’s still ranked at No. 6 in the world, which makes him the perfect step up for Yanez. The Texan has opened his UFC career with five straight wins and four knockouts, scoring five performance bonuses in the process. There’s a lot of hype behind Yanez, but he faces the toughest test yet of his young career.
Let’s take a closer look at the keys to victory for each man:
Rob Font
Record: 19-5
Key Wins: Cody Garbrandt (UFC Vegas 27), Marlon Moraes (UFC Vegas 17), Ricky Simon (UFC on ESPN 7), Sergio Pettis (UFC on FOX 31), Thomas Almeida (UFC 220), Douglas Silva de Andrade (UFC 213)
Key Losses: Marlon Vera (UFC Vegas 53), Jose Aldo (UFC Vegas 44), Raphael Assuncao (UFC 226), John Lineker (UFC 198), Pedro Munhoz (UFC Fight Night 119)
Keys to Victory: Font is about as tough as they come. A high-volume boxer with good power in his hands, Font doesn’t shy away from exchanges and is also plenty capable of mixing it up with a double leg takedown.
This is a really interesting match up in that both men tend to excel in similar areas. They have strong jabs, line up their right hand well, and generally win by landing the heavier shots in extended exchanges. The most notable difference is that Yanez tends to land his kill shots on the counter, whereas Font is usually coming forward with big swings.
To avoid getting dinged on the counter, Font has to feint more often. This is the fight to pull out trickery and misdirection, which is part of how Davey Grant was able to give Yanez his toughest challenge yet. In the lead up to this fight, Font mentioned mixing in his wrestling, and that’s not a bad idea to give his offense another layer of unpredictability.
Adrian Yanez
Record: 16-3
Key Wins: Davey Grant (UFC Vegas 43), Gustavo Lopez (UFC Vegas 22) Randy Costa (UFC Vegas 32), Tony Kelley (UFC Austin)
Key Losses: Miles John (LFA 55)
Keys to Victory: Yanez’s martial arts background begins in boxing, which absolutely shows inside the cage. He moves fluidly and puts together great combinations, which has resulted in 10 wins via knockout thus far. In addition, the Texan holds a jiu-jitsu black belt.
In Font’s last two fights, he technically won the volume game, throwing and landing more strikes overall. However, both “Chito” and Aldo were able to pick up his timing and hurt Font repeatedly, in part because Font’s high-volume style leaves openings available.
Given his reputation as a sniper, Yanez should be looking to do the same and really make his shots count more. I’d like to see Yanez maintaining an extra half step of distance and work his jab and calf kicking offense. When Font invariably starts trying to get his own combos flowing, Yanez can look to angle off and counter or simply stand his ground and fire back.
Bottom Line
This is a massive fight for each man.
Not too long ago, Font was closing in on a title shot. Now, he faces a pivotal moment, as defeat would make it three in a row and surely eject him from the Top 10 entirely. At 35 years of age in the Bantamweight division, I don’t know that there’s any way to truly rebound from that. To keep his title dreams alive, Font has to turn away Yanez and prove that he’s still a factor.
As for Yanez, he’s been steadily rising up the ranks and gaining momentum since his debut. He’s entertaining and charismatic, and everything is timing out for Yanez to burst into the Top 10 just as he hits his prime. Dispatching Font demonstrates that Yanez is ready to fight the best right now, opening up potentially massive fights against men like Marlon Vera or Petr Yan.
At UFC 287, Rob Font and Adrian Yanez will duel in a Bantamweight slugfest. Which man remains standing when the dust settles?
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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