Jeff WagenheimMar 5, 2026, 08:30 AM ET
Mixed martial arts is known as the hurt business, a deluge of punches and kicks, knockouts and all-out aggression. So it might sound out of place to hear Rob Font say he has "got to feel bad" about planning to beat up his opponent this Saturday at UFC 326 in Las Vegas.
Except he was just joking, in response to being informed that his 21-year-old opponent, Raul Rosas Jr., was just 7 years old on the night Font made his pro MMA debut in 2011.
"It's crazy to think about it like that," Font told ESPN last week. "That's so wild. I'm like, 'I've almost got to feel bad now.' But ... nah." He laughed.
No, Font won't hesitate to get into a fistfight with the grown-up version of Rosas (11-1), who already has six UFC fights since making his Octagon debut four years ago. He was 17 when he earned a contract on "Dana White's Contender Series," becoming the youngest fighter ever to sign with the UFC.
"He's young but he's hungry, and I know he's dangerous," Font said. "I'm definitely not taking him lightly at all."
Font (22-9) is 38 years old, giving this matchup a 17-year age gap. That's notable but not even close to a UFC record. In 1994 at UFC 4, Royce Gracie, a legend in the making but just 27 at the time, faced 51-year-old Ron van Clief. It turned out to be the first of three submission victories for Gracie on the way to winning that one-night tournament. Van Clief, a kung fu action-film actor who was competing in his only MMA bout, still owns the distinction of being the oldest fighter in the UFC.
Aside from that long-ago fight's age difference of 23 years, 10 months, two other UFC matchups have had a wider gap than this coming Saturday's. In both cases, the difference was also 17 years, just a few months wider than Font vs. Rosas.
Rosas acknowledged that such a generation gap in a fight is a rarity, but he didn't see its relevance. "Age doesn't really matter, especially at this level," he told ESPN on Tuesday. "It's just another day in the office."
Maybe Rosas didn't receive the workplace memo about what makes this weekend's age gap more than a mere curiosity: In the UFC's three-decade history, there have been 11 matchups with an age difference of 16 years or more, and the younger fighter has won every single one.
"Hmm, I don't really know what to make of that," Rosas said. "I'm not thinking about Rob Font's age too much, and I don't think he's thinking about mine."
It's true that Font is unfazed by the 0-11 record of his fellow elders and this fight's age gap. He is choosing to dwell instead on a different gap: experience. Font has nearly three times as many pro bouts as Rosas, but even more telling than the quantity is the quality. Font has shared the Octagon with three former UFC champions and has a 1-2 record against them. He's faced three other fighters who've challenged for a UFC belt. He has also beaten former titlists from Bellator MMA, the World Series of Fighting and One Championship.
Rosas' résumé does not shimmer like that.
"He has a lot of buzz behind him -- in fact, I don't know that I've ever fought somebody that has this much buzz," Font said. "But I definitely believe that I am his biggest test to date."
Rosas didn't disagree with that assessment. "That's what makes me excited about this fight: It's a good challenge for me, a good step up," he said. "Here is where I discover myself, what I'm truly made of."
That is not to suggest that Rosas' focus was entirely inward. He recognized what sharing the cage with a high-level veteran can mean for his own future.
"Rob Font, I respect him," Rosas said. "He's done great things in the sport, fought the best of the best. And being able to fight somebody like that excites me, because I know after I get the W on Saturday, all I'm going to get after this are tough fights."
With all due respect to those he's met on the fast-lane path he has traveled in the UFC, Rosas said he welcomes what's ahead because he's been preparing for this since he was a kid -- since even before Saturday's 17-years-older opponent was a fighter. Remember, Font made his pro debut when Rosas was 7.
"I was in the first grade at that age, but I was already training," Rosas said matter-of-factly, as if that were a normal age to begin an MMA life. At 4 years old, he began watching his father train, but before long, watching wasn't enough. He initially began training in karate, before moving onto other disciplines.
"I trained hard even when I was little," Rosas said. "I poured all my life into it."
By the time he was a teenager, Rosas was competing internationally. At 14, he won a gold medal at the 1999 International Mixed Martial Arts Federation's youth world championships in Rome. He turned pro at 17 and, after five quick wins over a seven-month span, got his shot on "DWCS" -- while still in high school. He has gone 5-1 in his first six UFC fights, bringing Rosas to where he is today at age 21.
When Font was 21, he not only hadn't begun training in MMA, but he also knew nothing about the sport. He was delivering pizzas in Tampa, Florida, and one day he showed up at a customer's house, where he became curious about the guys rolling around on a mat in the garage. Font stuck around to watch them train, asked a lot of questions and, within a few weeks, was taking advantage of a local gym's introductory offer for a week of free MMA workouts.
Font took to the sport immediately and made his pro debut at 24 years old. He was 10-1 when he was signed by the UFC in 2014 and has flirted with the top 10 rankings at times since. He has collected six performance bonuses in 20 visits to the Octagon, and his six knockouts tie him with Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera for second most in UFC men's bantamweight history.
The stat that Font finds most applicable to Saturday's fight, however, is that he has fought 31 times and never been knocked out.
"Yes, I'm the older fighter here, but I don't have a lot of wear and tear," he said. "I've been in a few wars, but I haven't been beaten up as much as some older fighters. I feel kind of young."
And Rosas feels kind of older than his years. He once set a goal of becoming the youngest UFC champion ever -- Jon Jones has the record at 23 years, 8 months -- but has since amended it to aim for two division titles and retirement by age 25. But with six UFC fights under his belt, Rosas puts out the unhurried vibe of a veteran of the sport.
"I definitely feel more comfortable, more calm and collected, now that I've been in the Octagon a few times," Rosas said. "Every fight, I'm a better version of myself."
