As he waits for the bantamweight title picture to play out, Rob Font says he’s simply not enticed by a fight with Dominick Cruz but might consider a few other lower-ranked opponents.
Font is now firmly in the title conversation after his dominant display against Cody Garbrandt at UFC Vegas 27 last weekend. But the #3-ranked bantamweight, who’s riding a four-fight win streak, is facing a dearth of higher-ranked opponents.
Champ Aljamain Sterling is currently recovering from neck surgery, and his likely next opponent, Petr Yan, recently shut down Font’s idea of an interim title fight. While Cory Sandhagen and T.J Dillashaw are also accounted for, with their bout officially rebooked for July 24.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, Font says he might consider a matchup with #4 ranked Jose Aldo, who’s set to face Pedro Munhoz at UFC 265, or fan favourite Sean O’Malley. But in his opinion, a fight with Dominick Cruz just wouldn’t generate buzz among fight fans.
“Maybe the Aldo fight [would interest me],” Font said (h/t Mike Heck of MMA Fighting). “The Cruz one, not so much. He’s nowhere near that belt at all [while] Jose is a little closer. [Dominick] has the name but nobody’s dying to watch Dominick Cruz fight. If anything, I’d probably fight Sean O’Malley before I’d fight Dominick Cruz. That’s the guy that’s kind of buzzing right now. He’s got that name and I can’t wait for him to fight [next]. Nobody is sitting here dying to watch Dominick Cruz fight. But I’m not gonna lie, I wouldn’t mind watching a ‘Sugar’ Sean fight. I think he’s the bigger name if anything.”
While Font is willing to entertain a matchup with a lower-ranked opponent, he says he’d rather wait for the logjam at the top of the division to clear up.
“I don’t want to fight backwards,” Font continued. “If it comes down to it, I’m assuming the Jose Aldo-Pedro Punhoz fight will be good. If Munhoz wins, I can avenge that loss. If Jose Aldo wins, that’s a pretty big name to jump in there with.
“Realistically, I would rather wait to see how everything else plays out.”
What do you think? Is Rob Font passing up a great opportunity to fight Dominick Cruz?
