SAO PAULO, Brazil — Francisco Trinaldo already has a name in mind for his next bout in the Octagon after scoring a close decision win over Bobby Green at Saturday night’s UFC Sao Paulo show.
With the promotion set to return to Brasilia on March 14, a city where “Massaranduba” lived at for years early in his MMA career, the Brazilian lightweight issued a respectful callout to Edson Barboza.
“I have nothing against Barboza, he’s the best Muay Thai fighter in Brazil in my opinion, but, f*ck, imagine Barboza and I putting on a great fight in Brasilia?” Trinaldo said in his post-fight media scrum in Sao Paulo. “We’re both Brazilians and I think fans would love that.
“I like Barboza as well, but us fighting would be an interesting matchup. People like him a lot, too. He beat the same guys I beat – and I’m sure he won that last fight but they gave the win to [Paul Felder].”
Aside from Felder, who has lost to both Trinaldo and Barboza in the past—Felder won a close decision when they rematched recently—they have shared four other opponents. Both Brazilians beat Ross Pearson, Evan Dunham and Green, and lost to Kevin Lee.
“I think it would be a good fight for the fans,” Trinaldo said. “It could be a main event in Brasilia, a good fight to sell for the fans… I’m sure we would go to war and break each other up in there. Barboza is tough, but I have tough training partners, too. I can do five rounds no problem. It would be a standup war. I’m ready.”