Rob Font truly feels like an elite bantamweight after outclassing Cody Garbrandt, pros react to Paul Felder's retirement, Jake Paul takes aim at Garbrandt and more UFC Vegas 27 fallout.
Rob Font feels he has to "sit back and wait" for bantamweight division
Rob Font will patiently wait for the bantamweight division to clear up following his win over Cody Garbrandt at UFC Vegas 27.
“I feel like I still have to sit back and wait,” Font admitted to press at the UFC Vegas 27 post-fight press conference (h/t MMA Junkie). “It sucks. I could have dominated, or I could have knocked him out. I still would have had to sit back and wait.”
“I definitely don’t want to fight backwards,” Font continued. “I’ve learned patience. I’ll be patient.”
Font also touched on the validation he feels after beating a former champion in Garbrandt.
“You go in there and go five rounds with Cody Garbrandt – was it (Dominick) Cruz that went five rounds with him?” Font asked. “And Cruz is a legend. You go five rounds with him and not get knocked out, you prove that you’re legit.”
Font also examined the two men competing next for the UFC bantamweight title: champion Aljamain Sterling and former titleholder Petr Yan.
“I think Aljamain might be a tougher puzzle to solve,” Font said (h/t MMA Fighting). “Petr Yan’s similar to Cody. You know, stay long, long jab, and then run into something big. Aljamain’s a little trickier because of the wrestling and his length. But Aljamain, same thing, I think it will be boxing him up, stop a couple of takedowns and then straight box him up."
“And then same thing for Petr Yan. Just not get hit with big shots and box him up as well.”
Petr Yan pokes fun at Cody Garbrandt's "technical flaws"
Petr Yan has nothing nice to say about UFC Vegas 27 headliners Rob Font and Cody Garbrandt.
Yan took verbal jabs at both men following Saturday's main event. He shunned Garbrandt's technical deficits and promised to hurt Font.
Jake Paul pokes fun at Cody Garbrandt's height
Petr Yan was not the only one criticizing Cody Garbrant on Saturday night.
YouTuber, professional boxer and Internet troll Jake Paul took a shot at Garbrandt following the conclusion of UFC Vegas 27.
Dana White undecided on next UFC strawweight title challenger
Carla Esparza made a compelling case for a title shot following her TKO win over Yan Xiaonan at UFC Vegas 27, but UFC President Dana White is not totally convinced.
White, appearing on the UFC post-show, confirmed there was still debate as to who will get the next crack at UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas — either Esparza or Zhang Weili.
“She looked like a beast tonight. She came out and absolutely dominated. You can tell by the way she was fighting that she was trying to make a statement. Statement made. Message received. We see you," White said (h/t MMA Fighting). “I don’t know what we’re going to do next. If we do the rematch [witih Zhang Weili] or if we give it to her.”
Esparza defeated Namajunas in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 20 to be crowned the inaugural UFC women's strawweight champion. Since then, Namajunas has become a two-time divisional champion while Esparza worked her way back to a title shot.
Pros React to Paul Felder's retirement
Paul Felder announced his retirement from mixed martial arts on Saturday's broadcast and his fellow fighters are in their feels.
Michael Chiesa, Belal Muhammad and two-fight UFC veteran CM Punk are among those who paid their respects to Felder on Twitter. Take a look below at the tweets.
UFC Vegas 27 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totals $158,000
Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay for Saturday's card totalled $158,000 amongst the night's athletes.
"The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy," per MMA Junkie.
Rob Font: $11,000
def. Cody Garbrandt: $11,000Carla Esparza: $11,000
def. Yan Xiaonan: $6,000Jared Vanderaa: $4,000
def. Justin Tafa: $4,500Norma Dumont: $4,000
def. Felicia Spencer: $4,500Ricardo Ramos: $6,000
def. Bill Algeo: $4,000Jack Hermansson: $11,000
def. Edmen Shahbazyan: $6,000Ben Rothwell: $16,000
def. Chris Barnett: $4,000Court McGee: $16,000
def. Claudio Silva: $6,000Bruno Silva: $4,500
def. Victor Rodriguez: $4,000Josh Culibao: $4,000
def. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke: $4,000David Dvorak: $4,000
def. Juancamilo Ronderos: $4,000Damir Ismagulov: $4,500
def. Rafael Alves: $4,000
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