Florian believes that lightweight champion Conor McGregor and the rest of the cream of the 155-pound division stand little chance against Barboza.
Barboza is, without a doubt, one of the most lethal strikers in the lightweight division. The Brazilian scored a brutal highlight reel knockout over Beneil Dariush at UFC Fight Night 106 to send a message to his fellow divisional rivals on Saturday night.
Former UFC veteran and current analyst Kenny Florian feels that Barboza’s threat to the division is being slept on by most:
“I think he beats [Eddie] Alvarez. And I truly think this, if he’s able to stop the takedown game of [Tony] Ferguson I think he’s the better striker. We saw Ferguson take a lot of damage in that [first] Barboza fight. I think Ferguson is obviously just a killer and just would not stop moving forward and I think that Barboza just kind of folded to that pressure a little bit, got tired and Ferguson outlasted him.”
“Nurmagomedov is the toughest style matchup for Barboza, but Barboza’s wrestling is looking much better and on the feet he beats all of those guys and yes, I do think he can be a champion.”
The UFC’s lightweight division is arguably the most stacked in terms of competition right now and is also notable for housing the promotion’s biggest star in “The Notorious”. Barboza would be an extremely dangerous matchup for the Dubliner, according to Florian:
“I tell you what. That guy is a terrible matchup for the lightweight champion Conor McGregor. He is an amazing striker. I think his speed, his ability to strike and his ability to not really throw himself off balance too much like he used to I think makes him a very tough matchup for Conor McGregor. I’m not saying he’s going to get that shot right now but style-wise, that’s a problem.”
“I do believe he can be a champion. The way he matches up against McGregor right now, I think it’s probably McGregor’s toughest striking matchup right now. Conor’s a phenomenal boxer, probably a little bit cleaner of a boxer but he’s not as fast and he’s not as powerful as Edson Barboza.”
