Edson Barboza was close to guaranteeing his long-awaited shot at the UFC lightweight championship, but Khabib Nurmagomedov had other plans.
“The Eagle” dominated Barboza in the co-main event of UFC 219 on Dec. 30, putting on a one-sided performance to improve to 25-0 in the sport and giving the Brazilian “one of the most painful losses I’ve ever had.”
In his first interview since UFC 219, Barboza opened up about what went wrong inside the T-Mobile Arena.
”I really didn’t expect that to happen, man,” Barboza told MMA Fighting. “I was very upset the week after the fight because I was well prepared, had a wonderful camp.