Muay Thai specialist Edson Barboza is not going anywhere any time soon.
It seems UFC featherweight Edson Barboza is not going anywhere after all. One year after the Brazilian went on Twitter to ask the promotion to release him, his manager Alex Davis spoke to MMA Fighting and revealed that ‘Junior’ had just renewed his contract with a multi-fight deal.
In the interview, Davis explained it was the UFC’s choice to keep the veteran striker around. Furthermore, Alex believes his athlete still has enough fire in him to chase the belt and compete at the highest level.
“The UFC has opted to re-sign Barboza and keep him on the roster, and keep him active going forward,” Davis said. “Barboza and I believe he has what it takes to make a run for the belt and become champion, and that’s his focus.”
Edson Barboza (21-9) made his UFC debut back in November 2010, when he TKO’d Mike Lullo with leg kicks, marking the Brazilian’s seventh professional outing of his MMA career. Almost 11 years later, the 35-year-old now has a 24-fight Octagon record, with 15 wins and nine defeats.
Most recently, Barboza picked up a unanimous decision victory over Makwan Amirkhani, in October 2020. The victory snapped a three-fight losing skid for Edso, with defeats to Dan Ige, Paul Felder and Justin Gaethje.