Bryan Barberena steps on the scale during the UFC 198 weigh-in at Arena da Baixada stadium on May 13, 2016 in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
Bryan Barberena predicted Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje and several other fights
Jer Wilson from the Blood, Sweat and Tears podcast recently interviewed UFC star Bryan Barberena.
While Barberena is coming off a couple of losses, he will be back in action against Anthony Ivy on 12 September.
Barberena was returning to the Octagon after almost a year and was extremely excited to get into action.
While the 31-year-old is preparing herd for his fight and wants to put on a show, he was asked to predict some other big clashes too.
He believed that Irene Aldana would get the better of former UFC champion Holly Holm but couldn’t decide who would win between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa.
“It’s a tough one, a super exciting fight. I think it is going to be a barn-burner.”
Barberena claimed that Yoel Romero vs Izzy was expected to be crazy, however, that didn’t happen. But he believed this clash would be an incredible one.
“Costa is just going to go after him and trying to take his head off. Izzy is going to have to work and be super sharp with his striker, but Costa is going to be non-stop pressure from him, it is going to be madness.”
While Barberena believed Colby Covington would get the win over Tyron Woodley, he wasn’t pleased with the character Covington had built:
“It is weird. When I fought him, he wasn’t like that. He wasn’t all douchey and talking trash like that.
“After I fought him he became, whatever he became, good for him to make more money or stay relevant but he crosses the line way too much and goes way too far and is a douchebag.”
Another big fight he was asked to predict was Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje. The pair are to meet for the UFC Lightweight title, and American didn’t back the Russian:
“Super excited to watch that one. I am a huge Justin Gaethje fan. Love Khabib, love what he does. He is just a master, he is legit the man.
“Gaethje is just the man too. He just throws down. I am interested to see if Gaethje is going to use his wrestling, not just defensively but is he going to use if offensively to help open up the striking as well.
“I am going to go with Gaethje for the upset. I think Khabib is the favourite but I am going to go with Gaethje.”
Khabib is undefeated in his MMA career, however, Gaethje was impressive in his win over Tony Ferguson and looks more than a match for the champion.
The UFC does have some incredible fights lined up with Dominick Reyes taking on Jan Blachowicz for the vacated Light Heavyweight title too.
This was an exclusive interview from Blood, Sweat and Tears. For more exclusive interviews and content please follow the link.
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