- Edson Barboza is not bothered by his age and is still confident about possibly fighting for the title soon
- The Brazilian also shared his take on being considered a legend in the sport and the upcoming Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski rematch at UFC 294
Edson Barboza is confident about his current shape and is staying ready for whenever the UFC decides to call him up again. Despite his age, Barboza still thinks he could make a run for title contention and he is already excited to see how the rematch between Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski will play out.
Edson feels like he could fight for the title
In an exclusive interview with Middle Easy, Barboza said that he is thrilled by the idea of possibly getting a shot at the featherweight title. The Brazilian is convinced that he has proven to everybody that he is still a high-level fighter when he beat Sodiq Yusuff in a five-round battle. With that in mind, the 37-year-old is certain he would still be fighting for a very long time.
“Man, I love my job bro, I love fighting. I’m a fighter bro. Like I said, I want to take this week off and back to work next week. When UFC call me again, I always ready to fight,” Barboza said.
“I’m a fighter bro, fighters don’t choose a fight,” he pointed out. “I fought everybody bro I don’t care whatever you have put in front of me, I fight. I never choose… I have almost 30 fights in UFC bro, 29, and yeah I really don’t care I’m a fighter.”
“Well, I’m in better shape of my career man, you guys see, I do the five rounds, I’m doing very well. I feel great man. You get old, you get smarter, you train smarter. I feel better than ever. You guys see my shape I was like a bro, you guys gonna see Edson Barboza for long long time,” he concluded.
145 or 155 is fine
Barboza has gone 4-3 since dropping down to the featherweight division. He is currently No. 11 in the official 145-pound rankings and it seems like a case for a title run is not impossible. However, Barboza said that if an opportunity to fight at lightweight again comes, he would also be down for it.
“I really feel good at 145 but I’m a fighter you know whatever you have put me to fight, 145 or 155, I’m in,” Barboza declared.
A legend in the sport
With a wide array of notable fights on his resume, Barboza is already regarded by many as a legend in the sport. While the Brazilian is flattered by the compliment, he also feels old whenever he hears someone call him legend.
“Definitely [I feel like a legend] bro, I have 29 fights in UFC, I work for the company for 13 years,” Barboza opened up. “I really love the company I really love to work for UFC. Definitely, it’s funny because the new guys come in like at the last couple of fights, guys come to me and say, ‘Bro you a legend, you a legend.’ I’m getting older for real… When I see Legend, I see some old guys you know but yeah I’m still in the game that’s making me very very motivated to keep going because like I said I feel better than ever, healthy, motivated and I can’t wait for the next one.”
Islam vs. Volk II is 50/50
Barboza will surely be watching the upcoming Makhachev vs. Volkanovski rematch at UFC 294. Though Volk lost in the first match, Barboza is not doubting the ability of “The Great.” However, he thinks it’s still anybody’s fight at this point.
“Bro, it’s going to be a great fight. Volkanovski, I think he don’t have any pressure over his shoulder and he show in the last fight, he doing very very well, he had everything to beat Makachev. That’s a 50/50 fight, man. Very excited and it’s going to be fun,” Barboza said.
Barboza has won his last two fights and is expected to face a Top-10 fighter in the featherweight division. It’s interesting to see if he could keep it up and end up becoming one of the title contenders in the stacked weight class.
Check out the full interview below:
