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‘Mr. Finland’ will step up on just a few day’s notice to take on Edson Barboza in the longtime lightweight action fighter’s second bout at 145 lbs.
This Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi just got an extra injection of fun. Originally (albeit briefly) scheduled to meet Jeremy Stephens on the card, Edson Barboza now has his third opponent set to face off against him at the Flash Forum. MMA Fighting reports that Makwan Amirkhani has agreed to face Barboza on less than a week’s notice, following Sodiq Yusuff’s departure from the card back on September 21st.
‘Mr. Finland’ will return to the UFC’s ‘Fight Island’ fresh off a technical submission victory over Danny Henry back in July. That win provided a much needed bounce-back for the SBG Ireland fighter, following his TKO loss to Shane Burgos in November of 2019. Amirkhani is currently 6-2 over his five years fighting in the Octagon, and nipping at the heels of a spot in the rankings. A win over Barboza would likely secure a number next to his name.
By contrast, the Brazilian fighting out of American Top Team has fallen on some truly hard times of late. A longtime action staple of the lightweight division, Barboza has only picked up one win in the last three years—a KO over Dan Hooker back in 2018, when the UFC was still on Fox. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t still been performing at an elite level, however. Barboza’s last two fights, against Paul Felder and Dan Ige resulted in highly controversial split decision losses. His featherweight debut against Ige, especially, had many fans feeling that Barboza had secured a likely victory over the course of 3 hard fought rounds.
UFC Fight Island 5 takes place this Saturday on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The card is expected to be headlined by a bantamweight top contender’s bout between Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and notes as fight night approaches.