Edson Barboza News

Al Iaquinta, Kevin Lee, UFC rankings
Dan Hooker

What's next for UFC Milwaukee lightweights?

Cole Shelton - December 16, 2018

Last night, the UFC held its final show on FOX and had two very important lightweight fights as the main and co-main events. Both fights had major implications on the rankings and on the contendership situation.  In the end, Al Iaquinta defeated Kevin Lee by unanimous decision in the main event, while in the co-main, Edson Barboza put on a dominating performance with a TKO win over Dan Hooker. With these wins, Iaquinta will surely soar up the rankings, while Edson Barboza is likely to hover around the number five spot. The biggest question to emerge from the card is what will Kevin Lee do next. Many believe he should go up to welterweight, but he is one of many fighters clamoring for a 165-pound division.

Edson Barboza, Dan Hooker
Edson Barboza

Coach updates on health of 'concussed' Dan Hooker after tough loss to Edson Barboza

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2018

On Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC Milwaukee, streaking UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker stepped into the cage with Brazilian knockout artist Edson Barboza in what was easily one of the biggest tests of his career thus far. Hooker flaunted unbelievable toughness and heart in this contest, but was decisively walloped by his Brazilian opponent throughout, absorbing dozens of strikes to the legs, body and head, and ultimately stopped in the third round.

Edson Barboza
Edson Barboza

Fighters react to Edson Barboza finishing Dan Hooker at UFC Milwaukee

Christopher Taylor - December 15, 2018

The co-headliner of tonight’s UFC on FOX 31 event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin featured a key lightweight battle between perennial division contenders Dan Hooker and Edson Barboza. Edson Barboza (19-6 MMA) entered tonight’s contest looking to rebound, this after suffering losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kevin Lee in his two most recent octagon appearances.

Edson Barboza
Edson Barboza

UFC on FOX 31 Results: Edson Barboza TKO's Dan Hooker (VIDEO)

Chris Taylor - December 15, 2018

In the co-main event of UFC on FOX 31, lightweights Dan Hooker and Edson Barboza squared off in hopes of moving up the 155-pound ranks. Barboza (19-6 MMA) entered tonight’s contest looking to rebound, this after suffering losses to the aforementioned Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kevin Lee in his most recent octagon appearances.

Edson Barboza
Edson Barboza

Edson Barboza will not be taking any time off after Kevin Lee, Khabib Nurmagomedov losses

Tom Taylor - May 3, 2018

Though Brazil’s Edson Barboza remains one of the world’s very best lightweights, his last two bouts have not gone as he planned. First, Khabib Nurmagomedov bludgeoned him to a unanimous decision victory in December. Then, in April, he experienced a similar loss at the hands of Kevin Lee, who thrashed him to a doctor stoppage. Despite these concussive losses, throughout which he absorbed nearly 400 strikes, Barboza does not plan on taking any time off. Instead, the fearsome knockout artist hopes to return to the Octagon as soon as possible.

UFC Atlantic City, Kevin Lee, Edson Barboza
Kevin Lee

MMA Community reacts to tonight's UFC Atlantic City main event!

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2018

MMA Community reacts to tonight’s UFC Atlantic City main event! A key lightweight tilt between perennial division contenders Edson Barboza and Kevin Lee served as the headliner of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 128 event in Atlantic City.

Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee

UFC Atlantic City Results: Kevin Lee smashes Edson Barboza (Highlights)

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2018

UFC Atlantic City Results: Kevin Lee smashes Edson Barboza A key lightweight bout between perennial division contenders Kevin Lee and Edson Barboza served as the headliner of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 128 event in Atlantic City.

UFC Atlantic City, Kevin Lee, Edson Barboza
Kevin Lee

UFC Atlantic City Live Results: Edson Barboza vs. Kevin Lee

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2018

The octagon returns to Atlantic City tonight for the promotions UFC Fight Night 128 event. The event, which will air on FS1, is headlined by a key lightweight tilt between perennial division contenders Edson Barboza and Kevin Lee.

Edson Barboza
Khabib Nurmagomedov

Edson Barboza isn't so sure Khabib Nurmagomedov is the world's best lightweight

Tom Taylor - April 18, 2018

Edson Barboza’s December loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov couldn’t have gone a whole lot worse, as he was thoroughly dominated by the Russian for three, lopsided rounds. All the same, the ever-dangerous Barboza feels Nurmagomedov could lose to any number of top-10 lightweights on any given night. “It’s tough to say who is the best,” Barboza told MMAWeekly. “Sometimes the guy who’s the best isn’t the guy who wins that night and he loses. It’s so hard for me to say one guy is the best. I feel like if you see the top five guys in the UFC, you rank the top five guys, all those guys their level is so high.

Kevin Lee
Edson Barboza

Kevin Lee Chose Edson Barboza over Eddie Alvarez, Says He Likes A Challenge

Drake Riggs - March 6, 2018

In attendance at last Saturday’s UFC 222 event was a myriad of different stars, ranging from actors to fighters. One of which included the recent interim lightweight title challenger, “the Mo-Town Phenom” Kevin Lee. The charismatic young lightweight contender has just recently had his next fight announced and it will be against a fellow perennial top contender in Edson Barboza.

Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee

Report | Kevin Lee's Return is Close to Finalization

Drake Riggs - February 22, 2018

It’s been a rough last couple of months for “the Mo-Town Phenom”. Recent interim title challenger and top 10 lightweight contender, Kevin Lee has suffered two big losses since October. The first being in his shot at interim gold against Tony Ferguson as UFC 216’s headliner, the second being the death of his longtime coach, Robert Follis. But it wasn’t all bad for Lee who has remained positive and used the experiences to grow and learn and has also joined a big-time management group in Creative Artists Agency(CAA).

Clay Guida
Edson Barboza

Clay Guida Sets Sights on 'Edwin' Barboza: "Put down the needle, pick up the pen"

Drake Riggs - February 1, 2018

From the sounds of it, “The Carpenter” Clay Guida knows exactly who he wants to fight for his next time out. And it’s one the lightweight division’s very best.

Khabib Nurmagomedov Edson Barboza
Khabib Nurmagomedov

UFC 219 Results: Khabib Nurmagomedov batters Edson Barboza (Highlights)

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2017

A key lightweight scrap between top division contenders Edson Barboza and Khabib Nurmagomedov served as the co-main event of tonight’s UFC 219 fight card in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Barboza lands a nasty inside leg kick to start. He lands another. Khabib is applying a lot of pressure trying to prevent Edson from throwing those kicks. “The Eagle” shoots in but Barboza is able to scramble free. Khabib with a right hand as he chases after Edson, he presses Barboza against the fence but cannot secure the takedown. Edson breaks free. He lands a low kick and then a hook. Khabib eats the strikes and continues to press forward. He gets inside and scores a trip takedown. Khabib working from top position now. He lands a big elbow and then some hard punches. Barboza is trying to kick Khabib off of him but it doesn’t work. Another massive shot from Nurmagomedov. He moves to side control and then mount. Barboza is in a bad spot here. Khabib with full mount now. He begins raining down big left hands from the top. He switches to right hands and this is getting ugly quickly. Barboza attempts to scramble but Khabib won’t let him go. More shots from the top by Khabib. He lands a nasty elbo and then works the body. Nurmagomedov with another big punch. He tries to take Edson’s neck but Barboza survives to see round two.

Edson Barboza, Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov

Edson Barboza's Wife Opens Up About Her Pre-Fight Experience

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

Whether you’re working in MMA media or just a fan, fights can be stressful. We always have our favorites and we all get invested. It’s easy to log on to Twitter and talk as much (or more) trash to ‘haters’ of the fighter we root for, spouting off encyclopedic facts or quality of opponents and skill clashes. Now imagine that you’re in a relationship with one of those fighters. Not just in any organization, but fighting in the co-main event sport for a UFC pay-per-view. Bruna Barboza, Edson Barboza’s wife, recently gave some candid insight into what that is like. “[Edson Barboza]’s unbearable when he’s cutting weight [laughs]. Before we had [our son] Noah, I used to go with him to every fight. We flew on a Tuesday and he didn’t eat anything before the fight. We wouldn’t talk because he was unbearable. One day I ate a cereal bar and he said, ‘Why are you eating this in front of me? Are you trying to piss me off?’ Imagine if I was eating a brownie [laughs]. I can’t speak with him on fight week, not even a ‘hi’ or ‘good morning. I don’t watch the fight if I don’t go to the arena because I think it’s horrible. I don’t know what will happen, if he’s going to get hurt, and I won’t be there to help.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov celebrates
Edson Barboza

Conor McGregor's Coach Predicts the Main and Co-Main Events of UFC 219

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

The main and co-main event of UFC 219 are some of the best fights all year, with the match-ups that we’ve had in 2017, that’s high praise. Cris Cyborg defending her women’s UFC featherweight title against Holly Holm is arguably the biggest female fight of all-time. Meanwhile, Khabib Nurmagomedov makes his triumphant return to fight against top contender and dangerous striker Edson Barboza in a war for title contention. It’s interesting to see Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh’s outlook on the match-ups — especially the co-main event — seeing as how he could still be a future opponent for McGregor, especially if he does end up ever fighting in Russia. “Khabib [Nurmagomedov] by stoppage in the championship rounds. He will be hit in the first but wrestling, in particular his body lock, will break [ Edson] Barboza as fight progresses. Ground-and-pound stoppage in fourth or fifth round. [Holly] Holm by stoppage within three rounds. The lack of size advantage [for Cris Cybog] plus Holm’s technical ability in striking will decide this. Cyborg relies on strength and intimidation a lot, she wont have that here.” – John Kavanagh via his Twitter.

Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov

PHOTO | Khabib Nurmagomedov appears to be in amazing shape ahead of UFC 219

Russell Ess - December 26, 2017

It has been over one year since we have seen Khabib Nurmagomedov compete in the Octagon. The current number 2 UFC ranked lightweight last fought at UFC 205 against Michael Johnson winning with a kimura submission in the third round. Nurmagomedov was scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson for the interim UFC lightweight title at UFC 209 in March. However, Nurmagomedov was taken to the hospital “due to weight management medical issues” just before the weigh-ins took place and the fight had to be canceled.

Edson Barboza
Edson Barboza

Edson Barboza believes it doesn't matter if Conor McGregor returns to MMA

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2017

The fighting future of UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is currently shrouded in mystery. There is a chance, of course, that he’ll return to MMA, where is career began, where fights with interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, lightweight contender Nate Diaz, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, and welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre could await. He might also return to the boxing ring, where he recently battled Floyd Mayweather Jr., for potential bouts with Manny Pacquiao, Paulie Malignaggi and even Oscar De La Hoya. And finally, there’s a chance he simply never fights again, content to live off the millions he’s already earned. Indeed, we’re all wondering what the future holds for Conor McGregor, but in the opinion of top lightweight contender Edson Barboza, who battles Khabib Nurmagomedov in a possible title eliminator at UFC 219 this December 30, it really doesn’t matter. In his opinion, interim champion Tony Ferguson is now the true champion, and Conor McGregor is simply an afterthought.

Edson Barboza
Khabib Nurmagomedov

Edson Barboza Isn't Worried About Khabib Not Showing Up for UFC 219

Justin Golightly - October 28, 2017

While we’ve been waiting along with Khabib Nurmagomedov on the sidelines for an announcement, we got our wish yesterday. A fight with Edson Barboza was made official to fight at UFC 219. This is a time for celebration, but fans and media can’t help but have painful flashbacks to the fights Nurmagomedov has had to pull out of. For most of 2016, we were hyped Tony Ferguson would fight Khabib, but it never materialized. Barboza isn’t worried about all that though, he’s just happy to finally fight one of the best in the world. “Khabib [Nurmagomedov] is a great fighter. He’s a true fighter. I knew if this contract comes on his head, he’s signing. This is an opportunity to have the two best lightweights in the world fighting. He definitely want the best and is one of the best and it makes me very excited for this fight. Definitely not [worried about Nurmagomedov not showing up]. I know Injuries happen all the time. I never fight 100% in my body in my life. Always every fighter have some injuries. Maybe I can get hurt in my camp. This happens to everybody and I’m not scared about this. […] He train so hard. I think for sure he train very hard. Sometimes it happens. I can’t do nothing. If you don’t train, you not get hurt. But me I train hard all the time, he trains hard all the time. I hope it doesn’t happen with me and him.”