Edson Barboza on Moving to Featherweight: ‘It’s a New Beginning for Me’

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight and new featherweight Edson Barboza is excited about the possibilities from changing his weight class.

Barboza sat down at Virtual Media Day on Thursday as one of the rare fighters who wore a mask in, although he removed it to conduct the scrum. Predictably, the first set of questions were about his seemingly sudden change in weight class. A career lightweight contender, Barboza always seemed well-suited for the division, only falling to top-tier fighters in the division. Having lost four of his last five, Barboza felt it was time to make a change.

“I’m very excited,” he expressed. “I feel it’s a new beginning for me.” Having been on the roster since his first appearance in 2010 against Mike Lullo at UFC 123, Barboza felt it was time to make a change. “I [worked] for the UFC for 10 years, I really need[ed] a new challenge. I make a choice together with my team…I think the move to 145 is a new challenge.”

Going through a veritable who’s who in the division, some of Barboza’s many former foes include champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, current interim titleholder Justin Gaethje and former interim titlist Tony Ferguson.

“I fought some real guys [at 155],” he explained. He also said the other fighters in the division that he had not yet encountered, he did not face them because they refused to take a fight with the hard-hitting Brazilian.

Not appearing nearly as depleted as Dominick Cruz the week before, Barboza laughed off concerns that he would be negatively impacted by cutting weight.

“I do the same thing as when I fight at 155…I just start 10 pounds lighter,” he said with a grin. He did not take a test cut, but the promotion gave him ample time to make sure that he could get to the lower division. “My real fight isn’t keeping my weight high,” he continued. “You guys never see me off shape. I was a professional, I do everything right all the time, it’s so easy for me.”

Throughout the scrum, Barboza restated several times that not only is the weight cut going well, but also that he feels in good physical shape.

“I really feel the same, it’s funny, when I started training I was scared to lose a little of my strength, lose a little of my speed,” he admitted. “I was surprised. I got faster, I got lighter.”

The division offers several new options for the Brazilian with an affinity towards the knockout, but he is not solely committed to remaining at the division if he has to.

“We’ll see how it goes,” he answered as it pertained to permanently dropping to featherweight. “My goal right now is to stay 145. I’m a fighter, man, I’m open to 155, I don’t care. Or maybe [I could] go to 170, I don’t care, whatever the UFC give me, I’m ready.

This first fight against Dan Ige, a fighter currently ranked in the top-15 on the UFC’s official rankings, could serve as a bellwether for how he performs at this division.

“Ige is a great fighter,” he professed. “He’s a top 15 featherweight in the UFC. I’m so thankful to always prove myself against the best in the world. He’s coming with a [long winning streak].”

Barboza also felt that fighting a ranked opponent in his first test at 145 pounds, it could catapult him up the division’s ranks. “My 23rd fight in the UFC, if I beat him I deserve a top five. After I beat a top five, I want a title shot.” When quizzed about potential opponents towards the top of the division, his eyes lit up. “Me against [Max] Holloway…me against other top ten/five guys, imagine. They would be great fights.”

While the American Top Team standout was concerned that the promotion had been reluctant to give him a fight, he did not think it soured his relationship with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I think the relationship [with the UFC] is good,” Barboza discussed. “The UFC give me a fight. I asked to fight in December, and January, February, March…there was no fight. I was like ‘let me go,’ let me go to another company. I screamed for a fight, I’m really going to fight. I still love my job, I still love fighting….I don’t really ask for a lot, I just ask for a fight.”

Fighting in front of an empty arena may be an unusual experience, but Barboza appears to relish the opportunity.

“It’s gonna be different,” he said while shaking his head. “But I work a lot, I feel like I train like that. I really love the people outside [in the crowd], every time I throw something, everybody out goes ‘oh!’ But at the same time, we go in the cage [and] it’s just me and my opponent and the referee, so it’ll be the same.”

UFC Fight Night 172 takes place on May 16 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The event will be headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris, while the co-headliner sees Claudia Gadelha take on Angela Hill at strawweight.