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#2 UFC Featherweight Division: Edson Barboza vs. Makwan Amirkhani

Does UFC veteran Edson Barboza have enough left in the tank to compete at 145lbs?

The UFC doesn’t tend to match fighters who lost their last fight with fighters who won theirs, but in this instance, this fight seems to make all the sense in the world. Both men are amongst the most exciting fighters in the UFC Featherweight division, and the promotion has clearly booked this one with fireworks in mind.

The biggest question surrounding Barboza right now is exactly how much ‘Junior’ has left in the tank. The Brazilian is 34 years old now and has been in the UFC since 2010. And it’s an unwritten rule of MMA that once a fighter’s been at or around the top for a decade, the only way is down.

With all of that considered, Barboza’s drop to 145lbs earlier in 2020 sounded like a horrible idea. Not only did the Brazilian seemingly have no weight to shed whatsoever, but traditionally, UFC fighters who’d dropped weight classes at the tail end of their careers had never done well.

‘Junior’ bucked that trend though in May with his fight with Dan Ige. Sure, he came off on the wrong end of a split decision, but the truth is that he probably should’ve seen his hand raised. He clearly outstruck the Hawaiian for the majority of the fight and only struggled right at the end of the third round.

So how does he match with Amirkhani? ‘Mr Finland’ has been in the UFC now for five years, and he’s looked pretty excellent despite flying under the radar. He’s picked up six UFC wins and has only lost twice – a contentious decision against Arnold Allen and a TKO loss at the hands of Shane Burgos.

The Finnish fighter is a willing and aggressive striker, but realistically his best area is on the ground. Amirkhani is a venomous grappler with serious finishing skills from all areas, and the fact that he’s got 11 submission wins on his ledger backs up that idea.

The issue for him here is whether he can actually get Barboza off his feet to work that grappling game. Amirkhani just isn’t a tremendous wrestler, and while he excels in terms of scrambling, Barboza has never been an easy fighter to take down.

Basically, there are a few ways I could see this going. If Barboza can keep the fight standing, keep things technical, and unleash those vicious leg kicks and body punches, then I could see him replicating the performance of Burgos when he TKO’d the Finn and coming away with a win. He’d have to be careful – he doesn’t have the best chin now, and Amirkhani is willing and has power – but it’d definitely be the smartest route to take.

However, if he’s gunshy or slow and Amirkhani can get inside and get him down, then there’s every chance he could work the Brazilian over for a submission – maybe his third anaconda choke in the UFC.

I can’t see that happening, though. Based on the Ige fight, Barboza still has a bit left in the tank, and Amirkhani doesn’t possess the chin or wild toughness that allowed the Hawaiian to survive the Brazilian’s assault. I suspect we’ll see a firefight at points, but Barboza will come out on top.