Edson Barboza will look to get his career back on track, but in a different weight class.
Following an initial report from Combate, Barboza’s manager Alex Davis confirmed with MMA Fighting that the longtime UFC lightweight striker is going to move down to featherweight for his next bout. Barboza has never competed at 145 lbs, but Davis says the new weight cut “shouldn’t be hard at all. But we will see.”
Barboza (20-8) is coming off a split decision loss in his rematch with Paul Felder at UFC 242. The narrow defeat dropped him to 1-4 over his last five fights, including a knockout against Justin Gaethje and vicious beatdowns from Kevin Lee and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Over the years, Barboza has produced many highly entertaining fights and highlight-reel knockouts, most notably his flying knee finish of Beneil Dariush and iconic wheel kick starching of Terry Etim. His best run of victories came against Anthony Pettis, Gilbert Melendez, and the aforementioned Dariush.
Barboza’s next fight has not yet been booked.