Edson Barboza moves to featherweight

Edson Barboza has had a tough going in the UFC lightweight division. He has fought the likes of Tony Ferguson, Anthony Pettis, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kevin Lee, and Justin Gaethje. Also: even more names! Michael Johnson, Paul Felder (twice), Donald Cerrone, Beneil Dariush, and Dan Hooker.

Most of those resulted in a loss for Edson. But it is remarkable that a non-title-holder – who never even came particularly close to fighting for a title – has managed to fight that many contenders and fringe contenders. He has had some truly unfavorable matchups, like Khabib and Lee, and a questionable decision loss to Felder the second time around.

However, by all accounts, it appears that his ceiling as a lightweight has been reached. Thus, he has made the decision to move down to featherweight:

If Edson still has title hopes, he has many bad matchups in featherweight, as well: namely, Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. However, this move could also be a promoter’s dream, with potential fun and action-filled fights against the likes of Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez.

Barboza is already quite lean, so he will likely have to cut muscle to make his new weight. In any case, we wish him well and hope he can have success in featherweight.