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After getting knocked out by Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Island 5 a few weeks ago (see it) in Abu Dhabi, Marlon Moraes proclaimed that the best way to move forward was to get another fight in before the end of 2020.
His wish has been granted.
According to MMA Junkie, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has booked the former Bantamweight title contender to face Rob Font at an upcoming “Fight Night” event on Dec. 19, 2020, slated to go down inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The loss to Sandhagen ended “Magic’s” hopes of getting another shot at the 135-pound strap — which is currently held by Petr Yan — and gave him his second defeat in three fights. Font, on the other hand, hasn’t competed since December of 2019, which means it will be a whole 12 months in between fights since he has been sidelined due to a knee injury.
That health setback occurred during his fight against Ricky Simon in December, which he went on to win anyway via unanimous decision. Prior to that, Font hadn’t competed since defeating Sergio Pettis in December 2018, another lengthy hiatus.
No word yet on whether or not the 135-pound matchup will headline the ESPN+-streamed event, which currently includes Sean Brady taking on Belal Muhammad, as well as Deron Winn versus Antonio Braga Neto.