Ultimate Fighting Championship brass put Rob Font at the front of a rather unconventional welcoming committee.
The New England Cartel rep will greet former 125-pound champion Deiveson Figueiredo’s arrival in the bantamweight division when they collide in a featured UFC on ESPN 52 attraction this Saturday at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Font remains firmly entrenched as a Top 10 contender but enters the Octagon having lost three of his past four fights. He last competed on Aug. 5, when he dropped a five-round unanimous decision to Cory Sandhagen in the UFC on ESPN 50 headliner. Figueiredo, meanwhile, looks to start a new chapter at 135 pounds following a four-fight flyweight championship series with archrival Brandon Moreno. He has compiled a 10-3-1 record in the UFC.
As Font and Figueiredo inch closer to their looming battle in The Lone Star State, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
36: Years of age for Font, who was born on June 25, 1987 in Leominster, Massachusetts.
9: Font wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 45% of his career total (20). His list of UFC victims: Adrian Yanez, Marlon Moraes, Thomas Almeida, Matt Schnell, Joey Gomez and George Roop. Font holds four other wins by submission (20%) and seven more by decision (35%).
1,151: Significant strikes landed by Font as a UFC bantamweight, placing him second on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only Pedro Munhoz has connected with more (1,211).
66: Rounds started by Font as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 13 different occasions and carries a 7-6 record in those bouts.
180: Combined victories between the seven men—Sandhagen, Munhoz, Marlon Vera, Jose Aldo, Raphael Assuncao, John Lineker and Desmond Green—who have beaten Lineker. They boast a .762 winning percentage at 180-56-1.
35: Years of age for Figueiredo, who was born in Soure, Brazil, on Dec. 18, 1987.
8: Figueiredo victories by submission, accounting for 38% of his career total (21). His methods of choice: five guillotine chokes, one armbar, one arm-triangle choke and one rear-naked choke. Figueiredo owns nine other victories by knockout or technical knockout (43%) and four more by decision (19%).
200,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Figueiredo across his 14 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the Night” three times and “Performance of the Night” once.
53: Seconds needed for Figueiredo to put away David Raimundo Arcangela Silva with a guillotine choke under the Jurunense Open Fight MMA banner on March 20, 2014. Nearly a decade later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
.742: Cumulative winning percentage between the two men—Moreno (twice) and Jussier Formiga—who have defeated Figueiredo. They sport a combined record of 45-15-2.
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