If you’re a UFC bantamweight, fighting Rob Font just seems like it sucks. It’s a very, very bad time. First, you have to deal with his length – 5-foot-8 with a 71.5 inch reach, better than most at the 135-pound division. Then, you have to deal with his exceptional footwork – he seemingly almost never ends up in spots he doesn’t want to be. After that, you have to deal with the jab.

Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Thrown constantly, without respite. He uses it to set up the right hand. He uses it to set up the uppercut. He uses it to set up more jabs. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. It never stops, coming from the fighter who uses it more effectively than maybe any other fighter in the sport of mixed martial arts. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. And at the end of the fight, your face looks like it’s been bashed with a meat tenderizer.

Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. That’s what Rob Font did all night to former world champion Cody Garbrandt on Saturday night, putting on a fantastic striking exhibition to sweep the scorecards and pick up the biggest win of the 34-year-old’s career.

Font firmly entered his name into the bantamweight title conversation with his blowout win over Garbrandt, placing himself in the elite of the elite in the deepest division in the UFC. Garbrandt, a powerful puncher in his own right, never got into gear. He never quite figured out how to deal with Font’s hailstorm of jabs, and walked away bloody and defeated for his trouble.

Font’s been on the run of his life over the past three years. Since tricky veteran Raphael Assuncao completely deconstructed his game in July 2018, Font has won four straight against strong competition, and looked like money each time. In Dec. 2018, in a win that has aged extremely well, he absolutely took apart Sergio Pettis, now the Bellator champion. The next year, he outgunned one of the most relentless wrestlers in the UFC, Ricky Simon. And in his true breakout performance, last December he knocked out Marlon Moraes, a longtime top contender and former title challenger, in the first round.

Font might have topped all those showings on Saturday, his first-ever UFC main event and first-ever five round fight. Although one judge somehow found a way to give Garbrandt two rounds, the consensus was a Font sweep. Font was patient, never forced anything, established his range and kept Garbrandt right where he wanted him. Throughout most of the fight, Garbrandt looked befuddled, unable to figure out how to get in and pull the trigger.

All the while, Font just kept touching him. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Garbrandt has always been known for his aggression and speed, but Font did away with both of those traits. Font looked quicker, busier and much, much more effective. It was a picturesque boxing performance from one of the best pure boxers that exists in this sport.

Ironically, Garbrandt had some of his best success in the fifth round, when he ignored the jab entirely and just let his hands go, eating a few punches to hopefully land one or two big ones. Font has always struggled most against fighters who come straight at him, damn the torpedoes – remember the unholy trouble John Lineker gave him – and Garbrandt’s suspect chin held up. By that point, it was way too late. Font has never been knocked out, and he sure as hell wasn’t getting knocked out after punching Cody Garbrandt in the head 145 times.

Font entered Saturday night still as something of an under-the-radar contender, having never main-evented a UFC card, and occupying a spot in an incredibly loaded division where most of the attention over the last year has gone to the Aljamain Sterling–Petr Yan situation, the rise of Cory Sandhagen, and the return of T.J. Dillashaw. And all of those factors will keep Font away from a title shot, at least in the immediate future: Sterling and Yan are set to rematch their bizarre DQ finish sometime later this year, while Sandhagen and Dillashaw will meet in July in what should be a No. 1 contender fight.

But with that dismantling of a former world champion, Rob Font has made it so you can’t ignore or overlook him anymore. Font has announced himself as a true title contender. If you still aren’t sure, just listen to that rhythm. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab.