Edson Barboza vs. Ilia Topuria added to UFC Fight Night in October

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

This should be a fun one.

Laura Fernández Bynilla of Eurosport Spain has reported that a fight between Edson Barboza and Ilia Topuria is set for an upcoming UFC Fight Night scheduled on Oct. 29 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. Topuria hinted at this fight earlier this week and has since confirmed it on social media.

Barboza is 2-2 in his past four appearances. The Brazilian snapped a three-fight losing streak with back-to-back wins over Makwan Amirkhani and Shane Burgos, the latter being one of the scariest knockouts in UFC history. Barboza followed those performances up with a third-round TKO loss to Giga Chikadze at UFC Vegas 35 and a unanimous decision loss to Bryce Mitchell at UFC 272.

Topuria returns to featherweight after a stint at lightweight in his most recent Octagon appearance. ‘El Matador’ scored a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded second-round KO of Jai Herbert at UFC London this past March. He also holds a unanimous decision win over Youssef Zalal at UFC Fight Island 5 and consecutive first-round KOs over Damon Jackson and Ryan Hall at UFC Vegas 16 and UFC 264, respectively. The undefeated upstart is now 4-0 under the UFC banner and 12-0 as a professional.

Barboza and Topuria are ranked at No. 13 and No. 15 in the division.

Barboza vs. Topuria is the first fight announced for the upcoming UFC Fight Night. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates on the event as they become available in the coming weeks.

Share this story

About the author

Kristen King

Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016, getting her start with outlets such as FanSided, MyMMANews and MMA-Prospects. She joined the BE team in 2020, covering a mix of news, events and injuries. In her time with BE, Kristen has created ‘Fright of the Night,’ a series that highlights some of the worst injuries in the sport.