Introduction
Friday, November 22nd, Brazilian featherweight prospect Marcio Barbosa will be in action for LFA, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against Felipe Oliveira. He will be looking for another win, as Barbosa looks to inch closer to a contract with the UFC. He represents Giants Team, a solid camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Jiu-Jitsu: Barbosa is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, though we don’t see it as often as we should. Just two of his wins come by way of submission, both via guillotine choke. He is ferocious from top position, using his physical strength to hold opponents down and land nasty ground-and-pound. He’s technical on the mat as well, combining finesse with his brute force.
Aggressive Power Striking: While Barbosa is a good jiu-jitsu player, what we normally see out of him is his wild, aggressive power striking that earns him knockout wins on the regular. Twelve of his fifteen wins are by knockout. He has brutal one-punch stoppage power that he can land with his always-move-forward striking style. He has solid kicks as well, but he really head hunts with his punches. His most impressive blowout to date was when he one-punch KO’d Wellington Prade at LFA 162, a win that really put Barbosa on the map. He moves forward and will absorb some shots just to land his own. It’s an exciting style that has cemented his success, but can leave him open on the counter…
Needs Improvement
Brawling with Better Strikers: While Barbosa is fun to watch when going nuts on the feet, it does backfire from time to time. Both of Barbosa’s losses came via knockout when he got into wild brawls on the feet with guys who possessed better striking than he. One of those opponents was now-UFC fighter Gabriel Santos, who is known for his exciting, skillful striking. Santos blasted Barbosa with a head kick. His other loss was to Luis Felipe, whose background is in striking and put Barbosa down in the second round via TKO. Barbosa needs to know when his wild striking is going to be effective and when he should abstain against guys who are superior on the feet, especially given his ground prowess.
Outlook
UFC Bonus Collector: Barbosa has the skills to be in the UFC. Barbosa has the style to catch Dana White’s eyes to get into the UFC. Barbosa has already been linked to this year’s Dana White’s Contender Series before he ended up not being on the show. All of this leads me to believe that Barbosa will be in the UFC within the next year or two. Once there, he will get in some memorable fights that net him some fight-night bonuses. He will get a fan following due to his style while collecting some wins. There is no doubt in my mind that I think he gets past Felipe Oliveira and scores a UFC contract in 2025, whether it’s straight up or through the Contender Series.
MMA Intel 