UFC negotiates fight between Edson Barboza and Jeremy Stephens for October 3
Brazilian fighter Edson Barboza has his second featherweight outing is already in the works. According to Combate, the UFC is negotiating for the Brazilian athlete to face the American based Jeremy Stephens on October 3, an event that has yet to be confirmed.
Edson Barboza (20-9) , 34, is on a bad stint in the UFC at the moment. Recently he has lost his last three fights, but two of them in controversial decisions by the judges. In his most recent presentation, in May, he made his featherweight debut after making his entire professional career at lightweight , and despite being the winner by the vast majority of the press and fans, he was defeated by Dan Ige in a split decision by the judges. Edson Barboza once has never struck gold in the UFC but the optimism is still their hence the drop to 145, One of the top-ranked lightweights in the UFC for many years, the Brazilian is going after the featherweight gold.
Barboza came close to challenging for the UFC lightweight throne after beating Anthony Pettis, Gilbert Melendez and Beneil Dariush from 2016 and 2017, but then lost back-to-back fights to future champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kevin Lee.
Jeremy Stephens (28-18), 34, is also on one of the worst runs in his career. He has accumulated four consecutive defeats, the most recent in May against Calvin Kattar where he was finished in round 2. His record is 28 wins, 18 losses and a oen NC, he has beat some of the best 145-pounders in the world, Gilbert Melendez, Josh Emmett, Darren Elkins and many many more. Also like Edson, Jeremy made the drop down to 145 pounds back in, UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva 2 in 2013 where he earned the victory that night against Estevan Payan.
Jeremy Stephens, has long been a fan-favorite for the violence he brings to the octagon each and every time out. However, despite being just two years older than Kattar, the number of wars Stephens has engaged in may have started to catch up with him. ‘Lil Heathen’ has lost four in his last 5 and one of them being a No Contest.
