E. Barboza (photo) is coming off a victory over P. Felder in July. Photo: Jeff Bottari/UFC
On December 19th, the Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos puts the lightweight belt on the line for the first time against the North American challenger Donald Cerrone. Despite counting on the bet of Edson BarbozaHowever, Rafael will not have the support of his compatriot, who said he dreams of a rematch against Cerrone, by whom he was defeated last year, especially if the fight is valid for the title.
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“I think Rafael's fight with Cerrone will be a tough fight, but I think Rafael has an advantage. We saw what happened in the first fight between the two”, said Barboza, in an interview with the “Sexto Round” website. “It would be interesting, logical (to fight with the Rafael dos Anjos). I'm Brazilian, I hope we have as many belts as possible in Brazil, but I think if Cerrone had the belt it would be even better. I hope to fight him again and as he is champion, he doesn't have much of a chance. (…) If I were told to choose a fight now, you can be sure it would be against him. That fight, as time went by, would get even worse for him. If God gives me an opportunity, I will show that that result was not true. Of course, he won, but, without a doubt, I'm better than him”, he added.
Despite dreaming of a fight against “Cowboy”, the Brazilian lightweight does not want to remain inactive while waiting for his chance and already has in mind who he wants to face in his next fight: the former champion Anthony Pettis. “Particularly, I asked for a fight with Pettis because, of the people in front of me, he is the only one available. Eddie Alvarez is a friend of mine, man, we've trained together for a long time and, probably, he'll come back to our gym and we'll train together again, so it would be difficult to fight him. I want to fight. The focus is not total on him (Pettis), no. Of course, I prefer to fight someone who is ahead of me in the rankings, but I would fight anyone. I want to fight this year, in November or December”, he guaranteed.
At 29, Edson Barboza has a professional MMA record of 16 wins and three losses. Born in Nova Friburgo (RJ), the muay thai specialist comes from a victory over Paul felder on July 25th, in a fight that ended up being awarded the “Fight of the Night” bonus at UFC on FOX 16.
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