With their second Sunday night event this year, the UFC returns to Brazil this weekend and flying under the radar is an intriguing lightweight bout in the co-main event. TUF 12 finalist Michael Johnson looks to extend his winning streak to a career high four straight when he battles Edson Barboza in enemy territory.
Both of these fighters have similar stories ahead of their 155-pound showdown. Johnson is coming off a lacklustre decision victory over Melvin Guillard – last March at UFC Fight Night 37 – after which the TUF 2 contestant Guillard was released from the promotion. Despite an uninspiring performance, Johnson earned a shot at former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson at UFC on FOX 12 last July, but a domestic violence allegations outside the cage kept the 28-year-old on the sidelines for the remainder of 2014. Aiming for his seventh win in nine fights, the Blackzilians product looks to remind the lightweight division of the lightweight who earned impressive wins over Gleason Tibau and Joe Lauzon.
ATTENTION Rogers and Shaw customers. Already enjoying Sportsnet ONE? Now get access to digital editions of Sportsnet magazine at no extra cost.
Similarly for Barboza, he’s coming off an underwhelming performance against Bobby Green – at UFC Fight Night 57 last November – but that mainly was due to his opponent spending the majority of the fight taunting, rather than engaging. Even with that victory, the 29-year-old is still two fights removed from his bout with Donald Cerrone where he lost by first-round submission last April at UFC on FOX 11. Despite winning five of his last six fights, questions still remain about the durability of Barboza’s chin, which will be certainly tested against Johnson.
Stylistically this is a very exciting matchup between two fighters who aren’t afraid to stand and bang. Both lightweights are around the same age and neither fighter possesses a major height or reach advantage. The one key difference is Johnson’s durability. The Florida native has never been knocked out in his 23-fight career, while the New Jersey based Barboza has questionable chin. Evidence of this was in his win over Danny Castillo (where he was almost finished by strikes in the first round) and his losses to Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone. With that said Johnson has also proved to be susceptible on the ground. Of his eight losses, six of them have been by way of submission and Barboza has a decent ground game. The other area of concern for Johnson is his layoff, having not competed inside the Octagon in close to a year.
If Johnson is able to knock out Barboza (who is currently ranked sixth in the UFC lightweight rankings) it would be tough to deny the TUF veteran a shot at someone in the Top 5. Conversely if the Valor MMA product is able to hand Johnson his first career knockout loss, or use his superior Muay Thai to win a dominate decision he too would likely land a top flight opponent in his next bout. Outside of Cerrone and Khabib Nurmagomedov, contenders for the lightweight title are few and far between. Expect each lightweight combatant to put on a show Sunday night and look to propel up the 155-pound ladder.