Lightweight striker Edson Barboza is one of the most highly touted prospects at lightweight—and its deserved.
Barboza is 9-0 in his career and has amazing Muay Thai skills, perhaps the best in the 155-pound weight class.
He destroyed BJJ standout and rubber guard extraordinaire Mike Lullo with leg kicks, and he out-pointed tough strikers in Anthony Njokuani and Ross Pearson so far in his UFC career.
The Muay Thai fiend will face his biggest test at UFC 142 when he faces British grappler Terry Etim.
Barboza has yet to face a grappler of Etim’s abilities (Lullo was alright but he had deficient takedowns). If he manages to defeat Etim, then his stock will rise dramatically. He will become a contender overnight and a fight with a top echelon competitor will be warranted.
So how high can Barboza go if he defeats Etim?
Pretty high—if he has good enough wrestling.
At the top of the lightweight mountain is Frankie Edgar, a man who prefers to box but has a wrestling background. The number one contender, Benson Henderson, also has a wrestling base. Gray Maynard, a man who is perennially near the top, is a dominant wrestler.
There is no question that Barboza has the most brutal leg kicks, knees and overall Muay Thai in the lightweight division. But if he doesn’t have the wrestling abilities to avoid takedowns from the division’s finest and the scrambling abilities to get out from under them if he does get taken down, he’ll go high but stall out towards the top.
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