Can Edson Barboza reinvent himself at featherweight?
It seems unfair to say [autotag]Edson Barboza[/autotag] was a gatekeeper at lightweight. Barboza (20-8 MMA, 14-8 UFC) has nine fight night bonuses to his credit in a UFC career that dates back to 2011, and has been in a number of thrilling and memorable scraps along the way.
If you beat Barboza to get to the elite level at 155, fans knew you went through an absolute trial by fire, which is a distinction the phrase “gatekeeper” adequately conveys.
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Still, though, Barboza never quite broke though to the championship level himself, and the returns were diminishing: Barboza lost two in a row and four of his past five.
At 34, Barboza is not old, and he’s banking on a reinvention at 145. He takes on Dan Ige (13-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who has won five fights in a row and isn’t likely to take too kindly to this intruder on his territory. We’ll find out real fast whether Barboza has made the right move.