Fighter On Fighter: Breaking Down Barboza!

Muay Thai ace, Edson Barboza, will go to war opposite Featherweight powerhouse, Sodiq Yusuff, this Saturday (Oct. 14, 2023) at UFC Vegas 81 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Barboza has been in the cage with the best of them. For the last decade, Barboza has fought little else besides ranked contenders, well-regarded prospects, and champions. He’s suffered plenty of losses in that span, sure, but Barboza has knocked out a fair few, too. He’s a highly respected and accomplished veteran, even if he never challenged for a UFC title. As such, this is merely another fight for the Brazilian. Another tough contender, another main event, and another opportunity to upset the odds with something spectacular.

Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Striking

Initially fighting Muay Thai in Brazil, Barboza built up a professional record of 25-3 in the sport before moving to America and transitioning over to mixed martial arts (MMA). Inside the Octagon, Barboza has the unique distinction of having finished two men via low kick, one via body kick (GIF), and a kick upstairs as well.

Fighting Barboza is a game of range. On the whole, Barboza is constantly trying to maintain the kickboxing range and prevent his foe from closing the distance. He has different strategies to accomplish this task, but the techniques involved are generally pretty similar.

Opposite Gilbert Melendez, for example, Barboza rarely jabbed — likely to limit Melendez’s chances of coming over the top with his right hand. Instead, Barboza used his low kick as his jab, punishing the lead leg each time Melendez tried to advance into the pocket. Barboza ate a few punches while kicking the leg, but it quickly paid off in limiting Melendez’s mobility.

In his bout with Anthony Pettis, Barboza jabbed far more frequently to stop Pettis from gaining the pocket. Pettis did a far better job than Melendez of feinting his way inside and not giving Barboza an easy target for his right low kick, but Barboza’s jab to the head and body stopped Pettis in his tracks. Often, Barboza would then sneak an inside low kick, which are not as immediately devastating, but still built to great effect.

The most improved area of Barboza’s kickboxing is his counter punching. Earlier in his career, Barboza would plant and throw a sloppy right hand just about every time he looked to counter. Currently, Barboza focuses far more on the left hook, squatting down a bit as he opponent advances with punches and firing a tight hook.

That left hook is Barboza’s go-to counter punch, but he has other options. While his foe is punching, Barboza will often slip to his left, countering with either a body shot, left uppercut, or left hook. Opposite Melendez, Barboza found ample opportunities to drop down and attack the body on both sides. Against Dan Hooker, Barboza finished the fight by slipping over and firing his left hook to the body. In fact, Barboza was attempting to double up on the hook (which was working well) and missed his second hook to the face solely because the body shot had crumpled his foe.

While talking counters, Barboza’s flying knee knockouts of Dariush must be mentioned. It was a classic example of a veteran striker picking up on his foe’s habits, as Dariush was setting up every takedown with the jab. Eventually, Barboza recognized that habit and looked to time him. Dariush was shooting with his head on the inside, towards Barboza’s power side — that turned out to be quite a mistake (GIF). Years later, Barboza timed Billy Quarantillo with pretty much the same shot, proving that taking down Barboza will never be a safe path to victory just because other fighters have accomplished that goal.

All of this counter talk is so necessary because most fighters have absolutely no interest of being in the kickboxing range with Barboza. They have to press him! Barboza’s low kicking is the most famous aspect of his distance kickboxing for good reason. His low kicks are ludicrously fast with little tell. This is true for most of Barboza’s kicks, as his setups are not spectacular or particularly tricky, but his speed and power is exceptional.

Aside from the low kick, Barboza’s next best weapon is likely his switch kick. Generally, Barboza attacks to the body, countering any attempts to circle away from the low kick. There’s also Barboza’s spinning kicks, both the wheel kick that knocked out Terry Etim (GIF) and the standard back kick to the gut. All of these kicks are damaging and thrown with such speed that Barboza rarely needs to set them up to land effectively.

Defensively, Barboza has improved greatly from the time when Jamie Varner chased him down with right hands, but the core flaw remains: Barboza does not handle pressure all that well. Nowadays, it has to be smart and determined pressure to undermine the Brazilian, as he’ll counter sloppy aggression with damaging linear blows like the spinning back kick. Still, almost everyone — notable exception being Giga Chikadze — defeats Barboza by pressing him with takedowns, punches, or both. Pressure suffocates the Brazilian’s kicks, limiting his best weapon, and he tends to become far less tight defensively when forced constantly onto his back foot.

The big issue is really ring craft. Barboza is not good at avoiding the fence with feints and direction changes, so he ends up either crashing into the cage or sprinting away from it. The former gets him socked up or taken down, while the latter leaves him tired and more vulnerable to being pushed back towards the fence.

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Wrestling

Several of Barboza’s worst losses came due to getting smashed by top players, but it’s important to note that he’s never been an easy man to drag down. He’ll even wrestle offensively on occasion!

When Barboza looks to get on top, it’s generally with that MMA-style running double leg/clinch body lock that lanky strikers love. It’s easy to understand why it’s effective: Barboza plants his feet and catches his opponent off-guard with a surprisingly fast spear to the waist. Barboza also has the option of trying to trip out his opponent’s leg after catching a kick (GIF). Dumps are a major part of Muay Thai, so it should be no surprise that Barboza is skilled with those techniques.

Defensively, the Brazilian has excellent hips. Even when fighters manage to time a shot well and land on Barboza’s waist, he bounces back immediately. Barboza also does a great job of yanking up on an overhook to change a double leg shot into a clinch, where his physical strength and balance generally keep him upright.

Unfortunately, his flaws come back to cage positioning. Barboza is vulnerable to the double leg along the fence, same as just about every fighter in history. The difference is he puts himself there more often, and he doesn’t react well when forced to defend both strikes and the shot.

The other problem is that Barboza isn’t the best at scrambling back to his feet. He might defend a few shots, but if his opponent does get him down, they’re usually able to do significant damage and tire him further.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

I cannot recall a single time Barboza threatened a submission in his 13-year UFC career, so safe to say, that’s not a huge part of his attack.

Defensively, Barboza only gets strangled after he’s been thoroughly battered, at which point it’s less of a technique issue. He recently survived three rounds of grappling with Bryce Mitchell, which should serve as proof that Barboza knows how to defend himself well enough on the floor.

Photo by Rey Del Rio/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Conclusion

Barboza may not be at his peak, but he remains a dangerous veteran who can really test the younger generation of Featherweights. Yusuff isn’t the worst style match up for him, so there is real potential of an upset. At the very least, his odds of adding another great and competitive fight against a skilled opponent to his resume seem high.

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Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.

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