A classic crossroads fight between two fan favourites.

Edson Barboza has been around forever. He made his debut in 2010! UFC 123, Rampage fought Machida in a non-title bought. And BJ Penn KOd Hughes in like 20 seconds in the co-main! Crazy times. But point being, Barboza has been around the block a few times and he has fought all the best in the world at 155 and 145. We all know and love Edson for his lighting fast kicks and powerful and technical striking. But Edson is a well-rounded fighter and good athlete. He’s has shown strong takedown defense throughout his career, and he is a competent grappler when the fight does go to the ground.

Bryce Mitchell is 14-0 (He did lose to Brad Katona on TUF season 27) and is primarily known for his grappling and submission game. His most notable win was in 2019 when he pulled off the elusive “Twister” against Matt Styles. And he almost got another one against Charles Rosa in his next fight! He has showed improved stand up recently, landing some solid punches in his last fight against Andre Filli.

But matched up against a guy like Edson Barboza, Bryce Mitchell is definitely going to want to use his grappling. He can improve his striking all he wants, he ain’t touching Edson on the feet. So then the question is how much will Edson be able to utilize his time in space, and will Bryce be able to take, and then keep Edson down enough to be the better fighter.

The line here is interesting. We have a good idea of what Edson’s ceiling is. But we don’t exactly know where Bryce’s ceiling is. And when these guys that are on the rise, get the to ‘Edson Barboza’s’ of their division – it is when you find out if the prospect is on their way to becoming a contender. Some would call Edson a “gatekeeper”, but I just think there is more to it than that. Edson is still a threat to anyone at 145.

The styles clash between these two is fun. And career crossroad fights are lots of fun. High stakes! Is Bryce heading to the top 10? Or is Edson keeping the gate locked and his position as the number 10 guy in the division.

if you do not know, now you do know