UFC veteran, Edson Barboza, has officially asked for his release from the promotion, as of Saturday, March 7, via a post on Twitter.
Barboza, 34, has lost four of his last five fights. He is arguably in the tail-end of his career, and probably believes that he has just a few more years left to make as much money as possible, before he retires.
“I’m very thankful for these almost 10 years that I have been working for the company! I gave my best every single fight to put on a show for the fans, but I think it’s time to move on. I don’t have more time to wait. Please let me go,” said Barboza.
Barboza fought the best of the best during his 10-year run with the UFC. Taking on championship competition such as current lightweight champ, Khabib Nurmagomedov, former UFC interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, former interim lightweight title challenger, Kevin Lee, top 5 lightweight contender, Justin Gaethje, and more.
Most recently, Barboza has looked to move down a weight class to compete in the featherweight division. He currently has a scheduled bout against Team Alpha Male fighter, Josh Emmitt.
The fight is supposed to take place May 5, at UFC on ESPN+ 32. It is unclear at this time whether the fight is still going to take place due to Barboza asking for his release before the fight has even happened.
It is also unclear what Barboza will look to do from here, as far as what promotion he would like to fight in next.
Most likely, he will look to test the waters in free agency, in order to get the most money possible for his services.
In conclusion, having already fought the who’s who in the UFC, it may be safe to say that Barboza is looking for a chance at new competition and a path to a title shot, once again.
Look out for future announcements from the UFC on the scheduled bout between Barboza and Emmitt, as well as Barboza’s status in the promotion moving forward.
