Some fans have a bone to pick with UFC after the current card placement for the next pay-per-view event was revealed.
After Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight closed out the UFC’s July numbered event in New Orleans, the Octagon will be heading back to Chicago for UFC 319 at the United Center.
The main event is a highly anticipated title fight between two middleweights who are yet to taste defeat in the promotion, reigning champion Dricus du Plessis and challenger Khamzat Chimaev.
A number of prominent names are slated to set the stage for the curtain-closing title fight, but one of the most notable finds himself with an earlier-than-expected assignment.
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Edson Barboza’s return currently set for the UFC 319 early prelims
Before Du Plessis and Chimaev duke it out for the middleweight gold in the main event and Lerone Murphy welcomes Aaron Pico to the UFC in the co-headliner, the likes of Jared Cannonier, Michael ‘Venom’ Page, Carlos Prates, Kai Asakura, King Green, and Jessica Andrade will all be in action.
The August 16 event will also mark the return of Edson Barboza, a fan-favorite knockout artist who has not competed in 14 months. Last time out, Barboza lost to Murphy in an Apex headliner that marked the Brazilian’s second straight main event and fifth overall in his 15-year UFC career.
With that in mind, many were shocked to see Barboza relegated to the early prelims when journalist Marcel Dorff posted the current UFC 319 bout order on social media.
Barboza’s lightweight return against Drakkar Klose is currently scheduled to close out that portion of the card, which will also feature this year’s two finals of The Ultimate Fighter and bouts including Bryan Battle and Karine Silva.
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Fans call the UFC out for ‘burying’ Edson Barboza at the bottom of UFC 319
The post caught fans’ attention, and the main talking point was Barboza’s drop from two straight UFC main events to an early prelim position.
Unsurprisingly, many took issue with Barboza’s placement, calling out the UFC for a show of “disrespect” toward a long-tenured legend.
“Barboza is buried at the bottom of the card? The disrespect.”
“Barboza going from main event to early prelims kinda crazy.”
“Barbosa on the early prelims (heartbreak emoji).”
“Putting Edson Barboza on the early prelims is criminal.”
Others, though, put a positive spin on the bout order or focused on other names.
“That has to be the most stacked early prelims I’ve seen.”
“Battle on Early Prelims????”
“How is Battle at the beginning of (the) prelims? That’s probably the best fight on the whole prelim (card).”