Edson Barboza is back under contract. The 40-year-old Brazilian, who retired from MMA in August, has signed with Absolute Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (ACBJJ). The promotion announced the deal in a post on Instagram, as reported by Bloody Elbow and MMA Mania. ACBJJ runs Gi and No-Gi tournaments, super fights and mixed grappling events. No date or opponent has been set for his debut.
The timing is the eyebrow-raiser. Barboza announced his retirement in August after his fourth consecutive loss in the Octagon, and it was an emotional goodbye. He’d competed 33 times for the UFC, and his highlight reel holds up against anybody’s in the promotion’s history. Bloody Elbow noted that his wife had urged him to retire several years ago. He kept going anyway. In interviews after his final fight, he explained that he’d extended his career by several more fights despite significant injuries because he wanted to see how he would feel. His conclusion was that he simply wasn’t the fighter he used to be.
Money isn’t what’s pulling him back. Barboza told MMA Junkie that he doesn’t depend on fighting financially. “I did the right choices in this part of my life about investments,” he said. “But I’m still 40. I’m still young and very excited about the future. I have a lot of things to do in the future. Thank God I did the right choices on the financial side.”
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Nobody ever called him a grappler. Barboza spent his career as one of the most feared strikers on the roster, and his MMA record shows exactly one submission win, which came before he arrived in the UFC. Both of his submission losses came inside the Octagon, against Tony Ferguson and Donald Cerrone. That isn’t the résumé of a guy who’d go looking for jiu-jitsu matches in his forties.
He has already had a trial run, though. Earlier this year Barboza wrestled to a draw with Shara Magomedov under a grappling-only ruleset at Hype FC. That card was part of a broader trend of promotions booking grappling matches with big MMA names. ACBJJ itself hosted Zabit Magomedsharipov’s return in August, and Magomedsharipov has since signed a multi-match deal with Real American Freestyle. MMA Mania’s headline made a point of saying Barboza’s new home isn’t RAF.
My take: this is the healthiest way a striker like Barboza can keep competing. He walked away because he said his body and his output had slipped, and a grappling match removes the part of the job that does the most damage. The draw with Magomedov tells me he has put in real mat hours, because you don’t get a draw in a grappling-only match by stalling. I’d temper expectations against legit black belts, especially in the Gi, where his decades of kickboxing instincts buy him nothing. Put him in a No-Gi super fight against another ex-MMA name and he’s a perfectly good watch. Book him for the leg lock specialists and I’ll be very interested in how his famous legs hold up from the other side.
