Whatever Edson Barboza is doing differently this year, it’s working.
Barboza methodically chopped down Gilbert Melendez Saturday in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 20, blistering the former Strikeforce and WEC champion with heavy leg kicks en route to a unanimous decision victory.
It was Barboza’s second win in a row over an elite UFC lightweight. It was also arguably his most complete performance since coming to the promotion in 2010.
If he keeps on this path, Barboza will soon establish himself as a guy with more to offer than just an aggressive style and flashy striking techniques. He might even wind up making his bones as a bonafide contender in the UFC’s most competitive weight class.
“I have five guys in front of me in the rankings,” Barboza said on the Fox Sports 1 post-fight show, via Sherdog.com’s Tristen Critchfield. "If the UFC gives me one of those guys I’m ready. I think I’m ready to fight five rounds. That's my fourth co-main event. Please UFC, give me a chance to fight five rounds. I’m ready for this.”
The 30-year-old Brazilian has long been regarded as an exciting, athletic competitor. He put himself on the map with an all-time great wheel kick knockout of Terry Etim at UFC 142 in January 2012. In 16 appearances inside the Octagon, he's won seven of the organization’s performance-based fight-night bonuses and has staked a claim as one of the UFC’s most aesthetically pleasing stand-up fighters.
Because of that style, it seemed like Barboza would always have a job at the highest level of MMA. Previous to 2016, however, he has never been able to get enough momentum going to craft himself into a serious title threat.
Barboza’s long-standing pattern has been to win a few fights over middling opposition and inch his way up the contender ladder in the 155-pound shark tank, only to fall victim to one of the division’s more established fighters.
He began his UFC career on a four-win tear, but he had that streak ended by former WEC champ Jamie Varner via first-round TKO at UFC 146. Two years later, Donald Cerrone spoiled another three-fight run by Barboza with a first-round submission. In 2014 , Michael Johnson again squandered a pair of his wins via unanimous decision.
Add in a second-round tapout to Tony Ferguson to close out 2015, and it left the impression of Barboza as a talented guy who could never quite get over the hump.
Unexpectedly, however, Barboza might be changing all that this year. His back-to-back victories over top-notch foes leave the impression he’s slowly but surely rewriting the book on himself.
Back in April at UFC 197, he became the latest man to use Anthony Pettis as a stepping-stone. Barboza took a unanimous decision victory off the fighter many had once assumed would be the future face of the lightweight division.
Saturday on network television, he put on another command performance over another top-tier opponent.
Melendez had been looking to make a successful return after a one-year suspension for a failed drug test. Now 34 years old, it seemed like the longtime Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu product was running out of time to turn around a flagging UFC career.
From the outset, however, Barboza’s speed advantage was obvious. He landed a pair of thudding leg kicks and a crisp left hook within the first minute of the fight. Melendez—always down to brawl, but most dangerous on the ground—couldn’t take him down.
It’s a dangerous game to fight Barboza on the feet and obviously wasn’t what Melendez had in mind. That didn’t stop the California native from having his moments, of course. Melendez landed a string of solid punches and a few times seemed to stun Barboza.
Mostly, however, Barboza kept the bout squarely in his world. Over the course of their 15 minutes together, he firmly established control. During the second round, he dropped Melendez with his baseball bat leg kicks on multiple occasions.
By the time the clean sweep on the judges' cards was announced for Barboza (30-27, 30-27, 29-28), the only thing Melendez could do was flash a rueful smile at the camera. He was already visibly limping around the cage immediately following the conclusion of the fight.
“Physically, I’m a bit banged up," Melendez said later, via Critchfield. “My leg took a beating … but I had a hell of a good time. It was fun being out there again and against such a good guy. I just couldn’t close the distance as well as I wanted to.”
In recent days, Barboza’s approach to the fight game appears to have changed on several fronts.
He told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole this week that he recently started seeing a sports psychologist. The counseling sessions have improved his confidence, Barboza said, and now he heads to the cage knowing he belongs out there alongside the very best.
“When I watch the Top 10 guys, I really believe I can beat them all,” Barboza said to Iole.
Fox Sports analyst and former UFC fighter Brian Stann tweeted during the Melendez fight that he's seen noticeable improvements in Barboza's game since the fighter relocated to New Jersey and started working with renowned trainer Mark Henry:
Barboza's defense is much better in the pocket, very fast left hand too. Big jump since moving to NJ training w/ Mark Henry & crew
— Brian Stann (@BrianStann) July 24, 2016
Barboza said he was able to make some mid-fight adjustments against Melendez. Barboza used the kicks to effectively control the distance against Melendez while never allowing a good chance for a takedown.
In terms of keeping the bout in the area where Barboza would be strongest and Melendez would be weakest, it was a masterful effort.
The win improved him to 18-4 overall, 12-4 in the UFC. Meanwhile, the loss dropped Melendez (22-6 overall) to just 1-4 since coming to the Octagon in 2013.
What happens next for Barboza obviously remains to be seen. He’s a training partner of newly minted lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, so it’s possible his current contender march might run up against a glass ceiling at some point.
But it’s not as though there aren’t enough tough fights to go around at 155 pounds. In the wake of this win, Barboza specifically mentioned former champion Rafael dos Anjos, top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov or a rematch against Ferguson as topping his to-do list.
No matter what happens, Barboza is suddenly well on his way to a different kind of acclaim inside the Octagon than we ever thought he might achieve.
For a long time, it seemed like he would be remembered solely for the occasional highlight-reel knockout.
Now, it’s possible he might turn out to be a late bloomer, a guy who has only just now begun to show us what he’s capable of.
