Edson Barboza vs. Ross Pearson Official for UFC: Rio

by Nick Thomas on Apr 19, 2011 8:59 AM EDT in UFC News

The UFC announced via their UK twitter acount today that TUF Season 9 winner, Ross "The Real Deal" Pearson will meet Edson Barboza at UFC: Rio this August. Barboza was originally rumored to be matched up with Takanori Gomi, but that bout was never confirmed by the UFC. Instead, the Brazilian muay thai specialist will meet Sunderland, England's Pearson, who has shown some excellent stand-up of his own against some of the lightweight's division's best strikers, including wins over Dennis Siver and most recently, Spencer Fisher back in February.

Edson Mendes Barboza Jr. (8-0)
Win Anthony Njokuani - Decision (Unanimous) UFC 128
Win Mike Lullo - TKO (Leg Kicks) UFC 123
Win Marcelo Giudici - TKO (Leg Kicks) ROC 30

Ross "The Real Deal" Pearson (12-4)
Win Spencer Fisher - Decision (Unanimous) UFC 127
Loss Cole Miller - Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) UFC FN 22
Win Dennis Siver - Decision (Unanimous) UFC FN 21

Aug 27th, live on Pay-per-view from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami
Mauricio Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
Edson Barboza vs. Ross Pearson
Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov
Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher

UFC: Rio coverage

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Ugh. Gomi - Barboza was such a better matchup.

And then God created Saturn ... and he liked it, so he put a ring on it.
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by James Brady on Apr 19, 2011 9:02 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup.

"Unless you can’t think of something intelligent to say, don’t reply and make the world as dumb as you are appearing to be." - mabel4life

by lowellthehammer on Apr 19, 2011 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions

Would have rather seen him fight Gomi, but this fight is cool

Are our bones not dust?
Is our Blood not Poison?
On my knees in the black light
Praying for Salvation, bitter Redemption
So throw your dice and cast your shadow
You may look away
But your children will not...

by ProfessorBLove on Apr 19, 2011 9:03 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

I like this better than Barboza/ Gomi.

Put Gomi against Sherk, or someone with a name. I also think he could make featherweight if he tried.

http://www.headkicklegend.com/

"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates

by ElliotMatheny on Apr 19, 2011 9:16 AM EDT reply actions

Gomi doesn't cut weight well.

This match isn’t even competitive. Let’s not forget Pearson got rocked by Cole Miller of all people.

"Unless you can’t think of something intelligent to say, don’t reply and make the world as dumb as you are appearing to be." - mabel4life

by lowellthehammer on Apr 19, 2011 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions

He did,

but Pearson has solid fundamentals and is strong as a bull in the clinch, which is where I expect him to try to work from.

http://www.headkicklegend.com/

"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates

by ElliotMatheny on Apr 19, 2011 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Don't kid yourself.

Pearson is not a better striker than Njo. For all intents and purposes this is a step back for Edson.

"Unless you can’t think of something intelligent to say, don’t reply and make the world as dumb as you are appearing to be." - mabel4life

by lowellthehammer on Apr 19, 2011 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Not in the pecking order, I'd guess.

A step up in ranking and a step down in difficulty. Barboza must be loving this.

by Cunny on Apr 19, 2011 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Kind of like how you said Faber is not a better striker than Wineland? We all know what happened there. If Pearson can outstrike Siver for 15 minutes, then I’m not so sure it’s a foregone conclusion that Barboza has better MMA striking than him.

by MMAussie on Apr 19, 2011 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions

HAHAHAHAHA

As a Faber fan, you should probably just pretend the Wineland fight never happened. What a terrible showing that was.

"Unless you can’t think of something intelligent to say, don’t reply and make the world as dumb as you are appearing to be." - mabel4life

by lowellthehammer on Apr 19, 2011 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Faber still outstruck him is what I was going for. Just how Pearson may be able to mix in some offensive grappling to get Barboza worried about the takedown and land a few himself.

by MMAussie on Apr 19, 2011 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Barely.

Neither fighter did anything of note in that fight. I don’t exactly remember Faber landing at will in there buddy.

"Unless you can’t think of something intelligent to say, don’t reply and make the world as dumb as you are appearing to be." - mabel4life

by lowellthehammer on Apr 20, 2011 6:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I didn't say he was,

But Barboza is the kind of striker that needs space to work. As I said, Pearson is fucking strong, and I think his best shot is to run Edson into the fence and work from there.

I definitely favor Barboza to win, because he definitely has more variety, and looks to have a speed advantage over Ross, but I wouldn’t sleep on Pearson.

http://www.headkicklegend.com/

"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates

by ElliotMatheny on Apr 20, 2011 6:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Like this more then Gomi/Barbosa

Cause I want to see both guys win.

And holy stacked card Batman. The era of weak UFC cards is pretty much over (even Penn vs. Fitch was not bad outside the main event).

Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack. - Sun Tzu

by hobbie on Apr 19, 2011 9:19 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

I thought

that was an entertaining fight, too. Good grappling exchanges throughout.

http://www.headkicklegend.com/

"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates

by ElliotMatheny on Apr 19, 2011 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions

Strikers striking strikeopolis!

Secretly hoping they both get into a grappling match.

by Pyrgz Krum on Apr 19, 2011 9:21 AM EDT reply actions

No Gomi give him a wrestler instead.

by malo on Apr 19, 2011 9:22 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Pretty cool right. Give Gomi to Nik Lentz…and put it on the undercard…and only show it if Gomi wins.

Not that I condone facism or any ism for that matter. Isms are in my opinion, not good. A person shouldn't believe in an ism, he should believe in himself.

I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me". Good point there, after all he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. Wouldn't change the fact I have to bum rides off of people.

by Sam Cupitt on Apr 19, 2011 9:24 AM EDT reply actions

Man come one, where is Vitor!?

If Vitor was on this card. You would have Silva, Shogun, and Vitor! Why does the MW division have to be so shallow?

Jules: Normally, both your asses would be dead as fucking fried chicken, but you happen to pull this shit while I'm in a transitional period so I don't wanna kill you, I wanna help you. But I can't give you this case, it don't belong to me. Besides, I've already been through too much shit this morning over this case to hand it over to your dumb ass.

by RJshock 305 on Apr 19, 2011 9:47 AM EDT reply actions

I wonder if they're having problems finding guys willing to fight him

It’s not that shallow when you have guys like Bisping, Sonnen, Belcher, etc. who’d be decent matchups for Belfort.

by Pantherhare on Apr 19, 2011 10:00 AM EDT up reply actions

I think Belcher is all they got.

They are really pushing for this Sonnen, Bisping TUF series. Belcher coming of off that injury might not want to come back and fight Vitor.

by RJshock 305 on Apr 19, 2011 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions

I like it! Stand n bang. Pearson is getting KO’d.

by Horselover Fat on Apr 19, 2011 10:09 AM EDT reply actions

I think that Barboza does have the overall better standup, and he honestly looks like a Welterweight that’s fighting at Lightweight. Pearson is very solid and tough, but I have Barboza winning this.

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by chrisbboy82 on Apr 19, 2011 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes. I am expecting a stand-up fight mostly, and from what I could tell of Barboza in the Njokuani fight, he has far better kickboxing than Pearson. Not saying Pearson is bad or anything, just that I think Barboza is better at his own game.

by Horselover Fat on Apr 19, 2011 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions