I'm tempted to pound Barboza @ -280. I don't mind the juice honestly, Pearson will get ktfo.
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Agreed that Pearson is not winning this fight. I don't see how he could pull that off.Comment -
Pearson could out-work Barboza to a decision, all it needs is Barboza to have an off night and/or be too casual, let's not forget that Pearson out-strick Dennis Siver, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Pearson wins! However, you have think that fighting in his own country and with Pearson fighting in a different timezone and having to adapt to that and the climate that Barboza will be the more comfortably fighter. I took Barboza at the opener of -185 which I was happy with as I'd of taken him up to -200. Also maxed out the fight to go distance opener of -130 which I was also happy with as I think fight go distance shoudl be at least -150 which it's currently at, and will act has a nice semi-hedge in case Pearson does take a decision which I think is his only way of wining. As Barboza's previous fights have shown, he isn't a wild aggressive fighter that is desperate for the KO or Submisison, he'll happily keep working away with legkicks and straight punches aiming to gradually wear down his opponent (like he did against Lullo). Although Pearson's legs will probably take a beating due to his stance and how he tends to press forward and pressure opponents rather than be fleet-of-foot and circle like a Frankie Edgar type fighter, I think he's tough enough to last the full three rounds. Be interesting to see how much he looks for the takedown to try and steal rounds. He smartly did it against Fisher in the second and third rounds I believe which may well have won him the rounds. Barboza also showed good fight IQ by taking Njokuani down a couple of times late on in the rounds of their fights in order to leave a good impression in the judge's mind. So at the current odds I'd personally rather take Barboza by decision at +130 or something or fight to go distance at -150 as I think Barboza at -275 is too chalky. Or use it as parlay material of course in a double with Palhares or something as Palhares is likely to be at least -220.Comment -
pearson`s no joke....his striking is about as technically correct as it gets.....but i think i look at mma strking throughmore of a boxing prism ...hardy/lytle kind of taught me a lesson...you can throw strikes correctly but if you`re leery to close distance/get in range,it`s not gonna help you very much...
hardy had a reach advantage over lytle and threw straighter shots but they consistently came up short....after getting rocked a few times very early,hardy was reticent to commit(until midway through the 3rd when he felt desperation)....if you watch the fight again,you`ll notice how many of hardy`s shots fell short.....he threw em...but many were short...many.....
i think if you removed kicks from the equation(lol...i know) and magically made barboza and pearson the same length and fought this at a neutral,it would be a toss-up...
obviously,the height and reach,along with the kicks and homecourt are the things that make barboza a prohibitive fave...he has some advantages....and that`s why he`s a prohibitive fave,imo...not because pearson is a soft touch or an easy out...he`s not and he isn`t...
couldn`t lay the wood regardless of the advantages...that`s why i parred him with rua.....
first ufc card in brazil?...that has to be a huge factor when breaking down this card....i have to believe it will be electric in that arena...Comment -
Pearson had trouble finding the range against cole miller. I think this fight will play a little bit similar.
Pearson trains with Rutgers wrestling and Edgar. As V said, I would not be surprised if he tries to wrestle a little bit.Comment -
I took Pearson at +165 and regret it a little... but I still think he stands a fair shot here and would have gone pretty big at +240. I know Edson is the next big thing and exciting as hell to watch... but this is only his 2nd UFC fight and Ross is no joke in the standup dept. Now two years down the road I'd say Barboza takes this no question but right now I'm not so sure where he stands right now in the LW division. We just know his potential is unreal and he's already being dubbed the next Aldo/Silva. -280 is too rich for my blood.Comment -
Pearson hurt his knee bad very early in that fight, effected his movemenet and striking a lot - I wouldnt read too much in to the Miller fight.Originally posted by Beelzebubzy
He only trained with Rutgers and Edgar for like 3 days before the Cole Miller fight. He's actually been training at Alliance with Phil Davis, Gustaffsson and Cruz more recently.Comment -
Vaghany, you mentioned pearsons win over siver. BUT is should be noted that this is the worst siver has looked ever and the reason was a fever. I dont think pearson had won that fight otherwise.Comment -
Barboza might be like Oliveira, an overhyped Brazillian. Don't get me wrong both are good fighters but Olivera was 2-0 in the UFC and was made the fav over Miller and Cerrone (lost both).
Barboza is also now 2-0 in the UFC, not saying Pearson is as good as Miller/Cerrone but +240 against a guy with UFC wins over Lullo/Njokuani might consider a betComment -
Yeah but Oliveira should be fighting at 145, has no power or strength at 155. Barboza on the other hand is a physical specimen.Originally posted by THE_LOCKSMITH
And Njokuani proved against Winner that he is no joke and clearly one of the best strikers in the division. He completely outclassed Winner, a guy that Pearson beat but only through outworking him with dirty boxing.Comment -
Barboza's win over Njokuani was all the more impressive due the injuries he had going in to the fight...
“We were almost gonna pull Edson from that fight, because he had really injured his hand about three and a half weeks ago during a training incident,” Joe Mullings, Barboza’s manager and owner of Jupiter, Fla., gym The Armory, told Sherdog.com on Sunday. “He hit an overhand right and caught the top of somebody’s head, and it really bruised the top of the hand bad.”
However, Mullings asserted that the damaged paw was a secondary concern to a serious leg injury Barboza sustained while preparing for his sophomore Octagon outing.
“About six weeks ago, he blew out his right leg in a training situation,” said Mullings. “We were training and he kicked one of his training partners who had shin pads on. The guy grabbed his leg, ‘Junior’ went to turn out of it and his knee stayed in place, and the shin rotated. He dropped to the ground like a ton of bricks and he’s been in rehab literally six days a week since then. He had not thrown a kick in six weeks.”
With Barboza unable to spar or train lower-body cardio, the decision to keep him in the match did not come easily; in the end, the fighter and his Armory team saw little other option. Not only would Barboza need to keep active in order to further rise in the UFC’s 155-pound shark tank, but the opportunity to produce in-cage fireworks with a fellow muay Thai stylist was simply too good to pass up.
“It’s only his second UFC [fight], and who knows what’s gonna happen if he sits on the bench? When’s the next time he’s gonna get a fight against a great striker like Anthony?” Mullings posited.
Come fight night, Barboza’s strategy involved a reduced number of right leg kicks, the very tool which he had used to chop down Mike Lullo in his UFC debut four months prior. The strike was to be reserved for the second and third rounds, so that Barboza could “get a good round under [his] belt” without having to further exacerbate his injury. Watching from the corner, Mullings soon watched that strategy fall by the wayside.
“Of course, it being Junior, he wanted to fire that thing right away,” Mullings said. “The first kick of the night, the whole thing went rubbery on him. In between the first and second rounds, he pointed at it, ’cause he didn’t want to say anything, ’cause the cameras were on him. He said, ‘I can’t even stand on it.’”
It was at this point that Mullings and Armory Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor Eduardo Guedes urged their charge to take the fight to the floor. A dyed-in-the-wool striker, Barboza insisted on staying upright and showing his standup superiority against Njokuani.
“If you look, he was still peppering kicks, but he could not set his back leg, which is where his power for his right hand comes from,” Mullings said.Comment -
And I thought he looked really good in that fight against Njokuani. Didn't that one end up being FOTN?Originally posted by VaughanyComment -
Yeah was FOTN, didn't have a lot of competition really, all other fights were good but nothing spectacularComment -
i`m always very skeptical when camps put out excuses AFTER a loss or bad performance......of course,they don`t come any more cynical than me.....
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ha yeah but this was after a solid win!Originally posted by rocky mattiolii`m always very skeptical when camps put out excuses AFTER a loss or bad performance......of course,they don`t come any more cynical than me.....Comment -
It was a solid win but he definitely didn't live up to his -270 pricetag for that fight. His movement didn't look all that hindered to me, personally i wouldn't put much stock in those excuses. I do have Barboza in a few small parlays though. I might have some type of straddle with Pearson by decision.Comment -
i went ahead and did a Barboza/Robert Guerrero parlay for about even odds, no way these guys lose imo. Just 1 unit for now maybe more later.Comment -
at the current oddds the value is on pearson for sure.
I wouldn't touch barboza at anything over -200, way over-valued imo. He has a lot to prove and I've seen hype machines time and time again lose in a fight everyone thought they would own. Pearson is no joke, you're a fool if you're underestimating him as I have before.Comment
