UFC on Fox 20: Edson Barboza vs. Gilbert Melendez Toe to Toe Preview – Complete Breakdown

The lightweights get the party started this July 23, 2016 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

One Sentence Summary:

Phil: After misspellings, achingly close fights and steroid scandals, it’s looking like the last shot at relevance for one of the best lightweights ever, and it’s not an easy one.

David: Gilbert Melendez tries to stay relevant and high profile against a very dangerous striker so that hopefully his next sponsor is less likely to lazily misspell his name.

Stats

Record: Gilbert Melendez 22-5 Edson Barboza 17-5

Odds: Gilbert Melendez +185 Edson Barboza -225

History / Introduction to both fighters

David: Oh Goblert. The world of prizefighting, and Reebok’s grammatical ineptitude was all at your fingertips and you threw it all away over some testosterone metabolites. But we forgive you. Why? Because steroids are awesome, and you shouldn’t be judged for it. Unless Malki Kawa is onto something, and estrogen blockers hiding in the punchbowl is a serious concern. Fuck I promised I wouldn’t talk about steroids. Anyway, Giblot has had a ridiculous strength of schedule with a misleading 1-3 in his last four, but needless to say, it’s not getting any easier. Barboza is a serious man.

Phil: The worry here is that our misspelled hero is on a decline, and that the roids were an attempt to mask it. Further to this,we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that, well… they didn’t work. He got outmuscled by Alvarez and thus any benefits from PEDS (which normally, as we know, give you the ability to kill opponents with your bare hands) looked absent. Speaking of Eddie, there was a lot of talk about how he might have been spending the valuable years his prime in Bellator, but I think in retrospect it’s more clear that it was Gil, the other big unsigned lightweight, who was spending his prime in Strikeforce. The peak of Melendez’ abilities were those three fights with Kawajiri, Masvidal and Thomson, and it’s hard to feel that his bouts since aren’t a tough, smart veteran doing his best to halt a long and inevitable slide.

David: We weren’t surprised by Edson’s performance against Pettis thanks to Pettis’ unaddressed flaws. But he’s playing with house money at this point, and I’m curious to see just how far he’ll go. He’s an absolute joy to watch, but I’d find greater joy in imagining that he walks around with a clip of getting murdered by Jamie Varner so that he can remind myself he can do better.

Phil: Barboza is a great example of someone who had every reason to collapse, and didn’t. People who are as visibly gifted as him are rarely psychologically prepared for repeated setbacks, the kind of which Edson has had in his UFC career. They tend to retreat into specificities of their style, or to flail around looking for new gyms which can immediately fix them up. Barboza’s response at every time he’s been pushed back has been to put his nose to the grindstone and quietly get better under Mark Henry and Ricardo Almeida; to get a bit more efficient at fighting back at pressure and using his hands, and to remain confident enough that it’ll be good enough next time.

What’s at stake?

David: Just the usual: fame, fortune, good health, and the USADA cloud.

Phil: This is definitely looking like …

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