Edson Barboza ready for ‘war’ with Kevin Lee: ‘I’m still really close to getting my title shot’

Edson Barboza and Kevin Lee are coming off losses to two of the best lightweights in the world, and the Brazilian striker expects to be close to his long-awaited shot at the gold once again after Saturday night.

Barboza faces Lee in the main event of UFC Atlantic City, scheduled for the Boardwalk Hall on April 21, and is confident ahead of the first five-round fight of his UFC career.

It’s been an active month for Barboza and his team in New Jersey, and the fact that Frankie Edgar, Marlon Moraes, Eddie Alvarez, Frankie Perez and Zabit Magomedsharipov were all scheduled to compete before or after April 21 has helped him get to Atlantic City at his best.

”He’s among the 10 best fighters in the world, so it’s going to be a war,” Barboza told MMA Fighting before the official weigh-ins, where Lee failed to make weight. The fight will proceed as a catchweight. “I’ve been fighting the best over the past few years in the UFC, and it won’t be different this time. I’m really motivated.”

Barboza was close to earning a shot at the lightweight belt last year, but his three-fight winning streak was snapped by future champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in December. Lee was on a roll as well, but a submission defeat to Tony Ferguson in an interim title bout last October moved him back down the ladder.

”That excites me, and that excites him as well,” Barboza said. “We don’t want another L on our records. I think he trained really hard, so you all can expect a war. One win puts me in the mix again. I’m still really close to getting my title shot. I’m the No. 4 in the division, and a win gets me closer to the belt again. That’s my goal.”

Lee had won five in a row prior to his clash with Ferguson, including three straight submissions over Magomed Mustafaev, Francisco Trinaldo and Mike Chiesa, and Barboza knows what to expect from him in Atlantic City.

”When was the last time someone didn’t try to take me down?” Barboza said. “Almost everyone I fight has this gameplan to take me down, but this is a MMA fight. He’s pretty well-rounded. If he decides to trade with me, let’s fight. If he wants to grapple, I have jiu-jitsu, too. This is a MMA fight and I’m prepared for everything.”

Moments after his win over Chiesa in June, Lee mentioned Barboza’s name during a heated exchange with Ferguson on TV. At the time, the Brazilian lightweight said Lee was “just another kid coming up, new blood, who thinks he has style, but he will learn things the hard way, getting beat up in the cage.”

Barboza has the chance to teach Lee a lesson 10 months later, but doesn’t pay too much attention on what his opponent does outside the cage.

”That’s who he is,” Barboza said. “We learn things as time goes by. That’s the way he thinks he has to be, but I don’t care anymore. I don’t care, that’s his problem. It really doesn’t bother me, I don’t pay attention to his style. I will be ready to do my thing in there and put on a great fight.

”Give me one chance and I’ll end the fight, everybody knows that,” he continued, “but I’m prepared for a 25-minute war. This is my first five-round fight, so we added a few more rounds in training, in sparring, fixed a few mistakes from my last fight, and I’m good for 25 minutes of war.”