Philadelphia — Longtime UFC veteran Edson Barboza has retirement looming as he enters UFC 330 this Saturday.
Brazil’s Barboza (24-14) has been in a slump, losing three straight with his most recent victory coming in 2023, against Sodiq Yusuff.
His fight in Philadelphia at UFC 330 comes against Esteban Ribovics, and is a return to the location where Barboza faced Justin Gaethje in 2019. That night did not go his way, though Barboza isn’t focused on the past, nor what Ribovics might have in store for him.
“It doesn’t matter what my opponent does, I have to work. I don’t think about this much. I don’t care,” Barboza stated during this week’s UFC 330 media day. “I always prepare myself for war. I always prepare myself for war.”
The retirement question, meanwhile, is one that Barboza isn’t ready to tackle head on. “It’s crazy because I don’t know what’s going to happen. To be honest, one thing I know, I have something to do Saturday. That’s my focus 100%. I don’t think about retire, or fight again.”
“My whole career, I’m fighting, I take one week off, then I start thinking about the next fight,” he added. “Now in this one, no, I don’t care about the next one. Just focus on this 100%.”
And perhaps that’s a tell. Barboza is no longer thinking about the fight after this one. There may not be a fight after this one. Barboza, who for a time lived in nearby New Jersey, now resides in Florida with his family. And it’s family that had the 40-year old contemplating retirement following a loss to Jalin Turner last December.
“One thing I put on the table is the time I really miss with my family,” admitted Barboza. “Just a quick example, last Sunday I was with my family, in the pool, outside, it’s crazy hot in Florida. And the kids had fun, me and my wife had fun outside, but I started to feel tired because I started cutting weight already. And I decided to go inside the home. I needed to rest, to do something to try to recover, and my wife and my kids, they played outside. I was like ‘ahh man, I’m going to miss this time again.'”
Needing to recover and focus on his weight cut and upcoming fight was more time missed with his children, more memories he doesn’t get to have. “I don’t want to miss this time anymore. I put on the table, that’s when I start thinking about ‘okay, maybe it’s the time to stop.’ Maybe, let’s see.”
Perhaps we’ll have an answer come Saturday.
Watch the full UFC 330 media day appearance by Edson Barboza above.
