F. massaranduba asks for a fight against E. Barboza for the UFC Brasilia. Photo: VH Gonzaga
Light weight (up to 70,3kg.), Francisco Massaranduba, made the Brazilian public happy by hitting Bobby Green No. UFC Sao Paulo, held last Saturday (16). After the fight decided by the judges, the fighter, in conversation with the press and in the presence of the SUPER FIGHTS, took the opportunity to propose a duel against Edson Barboza at the event that will take place in Brasília, on March 14th. massaranduba, however, made a point of showing respect for his compatriot, but stated that it would be an interesting fight for the public.
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“I have nothing against (Edson) Barboza, he, for me, is one of the best muay thai fighters in Brazil, but me and him doing a 'fight' there in Brasília? Both of us, Brazilians. I think the public would really like it. Me and the people like him a lot. It would be interesting”, declared Francisco.
massaranduba stated that the request had not been thought of before. The idea came as soon as the winner of the duel against Green was announced this Saturday. For the Brazilian, the fact that they faced some athletes in common could increase the promotion of the fight.
“The same guys he beat, I beat. The same guys he fought, I fought. His last one (against Paul felder), I’m sure he won”, said the lightweight.
For Francisco, who is considered one of the biggest favorites of the Brazilian public within the UFC, his charisma could provide the possibility of holding a meeting between the combatants. Second massaranduba, would be a duel between two renowned athletes at national level.
“I think that, here in Brazil, few fighters have more fans than me”, said the athlete, who revealed that he didn't care about the fact that Edson had already faced better ranked names within the category and, in fact, had already headlined an event, which took place in March this year (UFC Philadelphia).
“We know what the UFC routine is like. Today, you are up there and tomorrow you are down there. It's a Ferris wheel. You win two fights, you're up there and you lose two, you're down there. It would be a great fight, a main fight, I don't know. A struggle to sell to the public”, said Francisco.
Asked about what the confrontation against Edson itself would be like, Francisco, with his usual relaxed attitude, did not hesitate.
“I'm sure we're both going to break each other in a fight. Barboza is tough, but I have some training partners who are tough too”, said the Brasilia native.
The athlete also took the opportunity to talk about his motivation in facing Bobby after having been, for some, harmed in his performance against Alexander Hernandez, when the Brazilian ended up defeated by unanimous decision by the judges in a fight in which the Brazilian dominated, for almost the entire fight, the actions.
“I trained harder to knock out the kid (Green), but I couldn't. There was a little something missing, but when we get back to the gym, we'll sort it out. I need to knock someone out, don't I? When we knock out, the crowd is very happy. I'm happy too, but I'm happy when the fans are happy”, concluded Francisco.
At 41, massaranduba, this weekend, completed his 31st career performance. The Brasiliense, today, has 24 wins and seven defeats.
In a complicated situation in his career, Edson, 33, is coming off two consecutive setbacks. Currently in 10th position in the rankings and with a fight against the current champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, on his resume, the Brazilian seeks to rediscover the path to victory.
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