Edson Barboza still “not sure what happened” to Shane Burgos, wants main event against top-five opponent

Edson Barboza still isn’t sure how he got the KO win over Shane Burgos at UFC 262.

Opening up the main card, Barboza and Burgos were engaged in a back-and-forth fight. Both men were landing heavy shots. After the second round, many thought it would come down to the final round, but the Brazilian was dealing with a cut on his shin from all the kicks he landed.

“We thought I won the first round as I landed the leg kicks and had the more powerful shots. I won the first round for sure,” Barboza said to BJPENN.com. “The second round was super close. My corner told me they thought I won but we entered the third round thinking it was 1-1 so I needed to win this round. When I got to my corner, I also looked at my leg and noticed it was cut open. I saw blood on his legs so knew mine was either cut open or his was, but I didn’t feel any pain. There was also no pain, but I did see the cut on my shin but I didn’t care because I knew I still needed to kick to win this fight.”

In the third round, Barboza and Burgos picked up where they left off but Barboza then landed a big right hand. After the punch landed, Burgos took a step back and then seconds later began to stumble and hit the fence and was knocked out. For Barboza, he says he’s still unsure what happened to Burgos and says it’s one of the weirder finishes he’s been involved in.

“When I landed the right hand, I thought in my mind it will only take a few more. I saw his legs shake, and then he stepped back, and his body sort of shut off,” Barboza said. “I then followed him to the ground finished him off. I’m still not sure what happened. It’s one of the more unique and different finishes I have.”

Although the finish was weird, Barboza is now on a two-fight winning streak. He’s also ranked in the top-10 of the featherweight division. The plan for the Brazilian is to return at the end of August. When he does, he wants to headline a card against Max Holloway, Calvin Kattar, or Yair Rodriguez.

“I want to fight a top-five guy next, I really believe I deserve that. I’ve fought the best guys at lightweight and I want to fight the best at featherweight. I want to fight at the end of August, hopefully, a main event, maybe Max Holloway, Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez. Any of them make sense,” Barboza concluded.

Who would you like to see Edson Barboza fight next after he KO’d Shane Burgos?