Comic Turnaround by Edson Barboza as He Fixes Josh Emmett for Featherweight Debut

Edson Barboza, in a stunning turn of events, announced that he will be heading to the featherweight division, a decision which he had been talking about following his request to be released from the UFC contract.

The former lightweight division fighter will now drop down to 145 lbs and will set foot in the octagon against a top-10 ranked opponent Josh Emmett at UFC Fight Night 174 on May 2 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, reported Combate.

Barboza and Emmett’s matchup is the latest addition to the upcoming UFC Fight Night main card bout which will likely be headlined by middleweights Chris Weidman and Jack Hermansson.

Earlier, Edson Barboza was in news for requesting UFC to release him after having served for 10 years. Although it’s difficult to deduce what went behind that closed door it surely looks now that the 34-year-old heavy-handed fighter will try his skills down at the featherweight category.

The Lightweight division was only making him more vulnerable as his record at this weight shows that he has secured a single fight in his favour in a total of five.

Edson Barboza’s Recent Outings

Barboza’s last tasted a success way back in December 2018 where he dropped Dan Hooker and then followed the losing streak against Kevin Lee and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

His current outing in the octagon was a rematch in September 2019 with Paul Felder who secured a win via split decision. Before this, he was knocked out by Justin Gaethje in the same year.

Barboza’s in his decade-long career had some prize scalps including, Anthony Pettis, Paul Felder, and Dan Hooker.
Come May 2, he will be setting foot in the octagon against an equally hard-hitting striker Josh Emmett, who is coming straight out of a two-win streak. No doubt, Emmett will be looking for replicating the same performance against Barboza who is new to this weight category.

While his opponent Emmett’s recent outing in the octagon boasts of a fantastic win over Michael Johnson and Mirsad Bektic. Out of these two, fights, the highlight reel for him would be the one where he dropped Bektic in the very first round at UFC 155 last July.