SEATTLE – Twenty-five-year-old Jean Matsumoto steps into the biggest fight of his life on short notice, but he’s not looking to simply partake.
Initially scheduled for a veteran-level step up vs. Chris Gutierrez on March 8, Matsumoto (16-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) now finds himself in bout vs. ranked opposition. Matsumoto replaced Dominick Cruz and will face Rob Font at UFC Fight Night 252 on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in what is a massive opportunity.
“We’ve been working for about eight weeks toward camp for (UFC) 313,” Matsumoto told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday at the host hotel. “Last Thursday, my manager and my coach got a call saying, ‘Listen, we have this opportunity for you to sub in and replace Dominick Cruz,’ someone who is a legend and I’m a big fan of. It’s a great opportunity, and you can’t let that go past you because this could fast track my career in like three years. This is an opportunity of a lifetime that we couldn’t pass up. This is how we ended up here.”
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Font (21-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) has not fought unranked competition since 2019. He’s battled the best the division has to offer and has gone the distance with many of those fighters. Despite being the latter stages of his career, Font, 37, has attempted to reinvent himself at Tristar – and turned back the clock with a stellar technical win over Kyler Phillips in October.
“Rob Font is very experienced,” Matsumoto said. “I understand that. He is a guy who brings a lot to the table. I’ve watched all of his fights. I understand that. But I’ve been training since I was 10 years old. I believe that I can stand with him. I can definitely go to the ground with him. It’s an opportunity that I do embrace – the challenge. If he’s been finished once, maybe there’s an opportunity for him to be finished twice.”
Despite the increase in matchup notoriety, Matsumoto says not much has changed in terms of his game plan for the fight itself. He plans to be aggressive, as always does. The only difference is that he thinks Font might meet him in the middle more than Gutierrez would have.
“We decided not to change up on the strategy,” Matsumoto said. “I know they are two different fighting styles and two different fighters. Chris Gutierrez is somebody who walks backward a little bit and puts in some kicks on the way out. Now, Rob Font is a guy who pushes forward, pressures all the time. I think my fighting style is actually to be aggressive and push forward as well. There is nothing much I’d change. I’m going to continue fighting my fighting style and I’m going to go toe-to-toe with him.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 252.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: What’s to gain at UFC Fight Night 252? Jean Matsumoto sees Rob Font as opportunity to ‘fast track’ career
