Edson Barboza Wants A Fight With Someone Who Makes Sense

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Edson Barboza (19-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) said that he wants a fight that ‘makes sense’ now that he’s recovered from shoulder surgery. Here are highlights:

On realizing his shoulder was hurt: “A couple of weeks before, I started feeling my neck a little bit, going down to my left shoulder. I still worked hard. I was sparring with my training partner. He shot, I defended a takedown, and I heard my shoulder kept, ‘Pop, pop, pop.’ Crazy, crazy pops. I have the video. I ran to my head coach, said, ‘Mark, my shoulder popped.’ He said, ‘OK, you want to stop?’ I said, ‘No, let’s finish the round.’ I did three more rounds with the one arm.’”

On fighting at UFC Fight Night 106 anyway and winning: “The first jab I threw, I said, ‘Man, that’s going to be a hard night’. Because it was so painful. The game plan (was) to throw a lot of the front hand, moving to my left side. And I couldn’t throw my left hand. That was the hardest fight of my career. Because I fought with one hand, very, very hard. And, like I said, Beneil is very tough. He gave me a hard time.”

On calling his manager to get a fight: “I’m a fighter. I want to fight. But I’m not stupid. I want to fight somebody that really makes sense right now, get us a fight that put us closer to a title shot. Or on our way to get my chance to the title shot. Because I’m ready for this. I think I deserve it. I’ve been in the UFC for a long time. And I’m closer than ever to a title shot. I’m ready.”