E. Barboza (photo) beats Hooker. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter @ufc_brasil
The Brazilian Edson Barboza is confident of a good result in the co-main fight of UFC 242, which takes place this Saturday (7), in Abu Dhabi. In the duel, the athlete will face an old acquaintance, Paul felder, whom he defeated in 2015. For the commitment, the fighter assured that he is very well trained and is hoping for a triumph to return to the spotlight in the lightweight category (up to 70,3kg.). The Friborg native spoke about the subject with 'BJPenn.com' in a recent interview.
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“I can beat anyone in the world on any day. I trained a lot for this fight. I know that if I win this fight, it puts me closer to the top. My goal is to win the belt and a victory here puts me in the right direction,” said Barboza.
The Brazilian, however, complained that the elite athletes in the rankings do not want to face him. The athlete, today, occupies seventh position in the ranking and finds it difficult to find level opponents to compete with.
“If you see in the rankings, most of the time, I have to fight with the guys behind. The guys in front of me don't want to fight me, and that's the truth. I call guys in front of me, but they never want to fight. If I win, there are only six guys in front of me”, said the Brazilian.
Barboza, however, knows he needs to win to get back on track in his career. In his last five fights, the competitor emerged victorious in only two. In his last commitment, the athlete was knocked out by Justin gaethje in the main fight of UFC Philadelphia, in March.
Regarding the confrontation against Paul, 10th in the ranking, the Friborg native shows that he keeps his feet on the ground and does not let himself be carried away by the good result obtained four years ago.
“We are both different athletes now. I'm just focused on myself. If I do my best, I will come away with victory”, said Edson.
At 33 years old, Barboza has 27 fights on his professional record. The athlete won 20 triumphs and suffered seven setbacks; one of them for the current division champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, which takes place in the main clash of this weekend's event.
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