Featherweight Edson Barboza feels confident ahead of his next fight at UFC 272. Paired up against rising prospect Bryce Mitchell, the Brazilian expects to put on an impressive performance.
In an interview with Combate, Barboza pointed out that his opponent’s strongest asset is his grappling, but did not seem too concerned about it. Instead, Edson prefers to focus on his own strategy to bring home the win.
“I feel great,” Barboza said. “Travelling is always a drag and it gets complicated for me when it’s longer than three hours, but I’m here. I’m happy to be here. He’s an opponent like any other to me. It’s going to be a war and I’m always ready for war. No matter where the fight goes, it’s always the same to me. He’s a grappler, but this is an MMA fight. No matter where the fight goes, I’ll be ready. I don’t know if it’s going to be a knockout, a submission or a decision. This fight will be mine. I can see myself with my hand raised already.”
About to have his fifth fight ever since dropping to the featherweight division, Barboza says the weight cut has been getting easier with each fight. However, Edson has not closed the door to a possible return to lightweight, should an interesting offer come his way.
“I’m feeling better each time,” Barboza said. “I’ve been able to understand my body better and this has been making cutting weight easier. This has been the easiest weight cut of my last few fights. I’ve been training with lightweights and don’t even feel the difference. I love to fight. If the UFC offers me a lightweight fight, I won’t turn it down. But there’s no doubt that my main goal is to stay at featherweight.”
In his last outing, Barboza (22-10) got TKO’d by Giga Chikadze, back in August 2021. The defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for the 36-year-old, who had picked up wins over Shane Burgos and Makwan Amirkhani.
Now, Barboza is expected to meet Mitchell at UF 272, on March 5, in Las Vegas, Nevada, The card is scheduled to be headlined by a welterweight bout between former interim champion Colby Covington and the BMF champ Jorge Masvidal.
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