Barboza (left) was submitted by Ferguson (right) in 2015. (Photo: Jeff Bottari/UFC)
One of the main highlights of UFC Fortaleza, held last Saturday (11), when he knocked out Beneil Dariush with a beautiful flying knee, Edson Barboza has already defined who he wants to face in his next confrontation. Number 5 in the lightweight rankings, the Brazilian wants to take revenge for the defeat suffered by Tony Fergusonin December 2015.
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“After this victory today, I want to go further. I'm happy, I love what I do. I fight against the best in the world. And I want a rematch like Ferguson now. I took the last fight with him just four weeks away and if the UFC gave me that opportunity, it would be five rounds of war, you can be sure,” said Barboza, in a press conference after his latest triumph.
When asked about his performance, Edson was honest in admitting that it took him a while to get into the fight, but highlighted the quality of his opponent. “It took a while for me to fit into this fight. And Dariush is very technical. But in the second round I started to find my game. I noticed that he left his guard more open and I calculated that his head would be right there at the time of the knee. I had trained for that”, declared the fighter, who added that he is ready to win the division title, which currently belongs to the Irishman Conor McGregor.
“I feel like I'm on my way and I can fight for the belt. I really want the UFC to give me this opportunity,” he concluded.
At 31 years old, Barboza is going through a good moment in his career, with three consecutive victories – before Dariush, he won Anthony Pettis, in April 2016, and Gilbert Melendez, in July, both by unanimous decision. His last defeat was precisely to Ferguson. In total, there are 17 fights held in the company, with 13 positive results and four negative results.
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