GOIANIA, Brazil — Following cancelled fights with Patrick Cummins and Ovince Saint Preux, Francimar Barroso will finally enter the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 67. The Nova Uniao fighter is slated to meet Canadian light heavyweight Ryan Jimmo at Saturday’s UFC card in Goiania, Brazil, and is hungry to get back in action.
“I always fought three or four times a year, so I’m anxious to fight after being out for over a year,” Barroso told MMAFighting.com. “But that won’t be an issue. I was ready to fight Saint Preux and I’m ready to show my work against Ryan.”
Jimmo also haven’t fought in a while. His last UFC bout took place in June, a second-round submission loss to Saint Preux, but “Bodao” expects his opponent to enter the cage ready to stand and bang.
“He always fights like that, keeping it standing, and I hope he continues like that against me,” he said. “I’m a striker and I like to trade punches. But if he wants to go to the ground with me, I train with the best jiu-jitsu coaches at Nova Uniao.
“My strategy will be the same. He always keeps it standing, and I hope he comes to trade. If he does that, he will go down. I don’t see it ending differently. If he stands and trades with me, he will go down.”
After being pulled from a bout with Barroso at UFC Fight Night 56, OSP went on to defeat both Mauricio Rua and Patrick Cummins via first-round knockout, and will headline UFC Fight Night 74 against Glover Teixeira in August.
“Bodao”, who was left aside with no opponent at UFN 56 in November, still wants to face Saint Preux.
“I trained for two months to fight him and he was moved to the main event against ‘Shogun’. I made weight and just watched him go there and fight. Well, he didn’t even fight, he knocked ‘Shogun’ out in seconds,” Barroso said. “I still want that fight. I hope Dana White and Andre Pederneiras give me this fight next. I will be happy to go there and fight him.”