Francimar Barroso was on the winning side of a brawl to start his 2019 season at PFL 3 and gave plenty of respect to his opponent, Alex Nicholson.
Uniondale, NY – Francimar Barroso tore through the first regular season of PFL with a pair of first-round stoppages. He encountered a lot more resistance at PFL 3 against Alex Nicholson, overcoming several troubling situations to win a split decision.
“I believe I got the hardest fight that could have been given to me. It was obviously a very very tough fight. No disrespect to any of the other opponents, but we were obviously throwing down. And we’re heavyweights. Gas runs out sometimes.”
During his days in the UFC, where he went 3-4, Barroso fought at light heavyweight. He eliminated the weigh cut upon joining PFL to fight at heavyweight, which has been a great decision.
“I’m feeling really good at heavyweight. I don’t have to diet and whatnot. It’s been a really good transition for me and I’m very happy here at heavyweight.”
“Nothing was surprising. I knew this was going to be an extremely tough fight. Three months ago I had an extremely tough fight as well, and I knew what to expect coming in here.”
One of the more surprising stories of the fight was Alex Nicholson’s defense on the ground, hitting several sweeps against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
“He was super slick on the ground. Obviously, we were both really sweaty. I tried to control the position as much as I can, and when I was on top I was throwing as much as I could. Not surprised, just Alex knew I was a black belt coming in and he was very prepared. Much respect to Alex.”
In a grueling back-and-forth fight, it can be tough to know who did enough in the judges’ eyes. The Brazilian was very positive heading into the decision.
“I knew I won the two rounds. My corner was very confident that I won the two rounds. There was no doubt in my mind that I had that fight won.”
