Edson Barboza Officially Retires After UFC 330
Edson Barboza (24-15) has walked away from fighting forever, following his second-round TKO loss to Esteban Ribovics (16-3) at the UFC 330 event Saturday in Philadelphia.
The 40-year-old veteran, a former kickboxer, made his MMA debut in 2009 and joined the UFC the following year. Since then, he’s fought Tony Ferguson, Anthony Pettis, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dan Hooker, and Justin Gaethje, among others.
The last four fights of his career have all been losses, including two successive stoppages, and so it was not longer after his latest knockout defeat to Ribovics when he removed his UFC gloves and left them on the canvas in the middle of the Octagon.
“I’ve had a big battle inside of me for a long, long time … I don’t feel the same. I’m a very competitive guy. I hate to lose. I have a hard time when I lose. I tried. I kept training hard, but I felt like my body wasn’t the same anymore. I’m 40, with 33 battles in the UFC. I can’t compete at a high level anymore.”
Barboza leaves the sport having tied Dustin Poirier for the second-most Fight of the Night bonuses in UFC history.