UFC 142's Edson Barboza says undefeated record already puts him 'in the mix'

Undefeated UFC lightweight prospect Edson Barboza (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) already has a pair of "Fight of the Night" bonuses in his bank account, but paychecks aren't the reason he started fighting.

Championships are.

Barboza kicks off the pay-per-view portion of Saturday night's UFC 142 event at Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena by matching up with British fireplug Terry Etim (15-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in a bout that looks certain to entertain. Barboza hopes it also brings him the attention he's ready to receive.

"I think I'm already in the mix," Barboza told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) in his native Portuguese.

It's hard to argue with the Brazilian native. After all, at just 25 years old, Barboza already holds victories over proven commodities like Ross Pearson and Anthony Njokuani. A win over Etim would likely command some real respect.

"Anyone who's in the UFC is there because they're very skilled," Barboza said. "That's a fact. With every opponent, the more difficult the fight, and I'm working hard so I can always meet new, more difficult challenges on equal terms. I know I have it me to do so."

To that end, Barboza currently splits his training time between Florida academies The Armory and Pablo Popovitch's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center, and he's recently spent some time with "The Blackzilians" of Imperial Athletics, as well.

"I had great support in preparing for this fight," Barboza said. "I've never had a camp as good as this. At Imperial, we have Rashad Evans and Anthony Johnson, who's going to fight Vitor Belfort. I go there two or three times a week to train standup, as well as wrestling with Mike Van Arsdale.

"The training was perfect. We did everything right, and now all that's left to do is the fight. I'm prepared."

The first eight professional contests of Barboza's MMA career took place in the U.S., but he's no stranger to fighting in his native country. The Muay Thai specialist most recently fought at this past August's UFC 134 event, which also took place in Rio de Janeiro.

"It was sensational," Barboza said of the experience, where he notched a three-round decision win over Pearson. "It was a great experience, and I enjoyed it very much. Now I get to fight in Brazil again. I'm very happy.

"I've fought in the U.S., and that's nice, but in our own country with our own crowd, that's very different.  I've very happy for this."

Another key difference will be the type of opponent standing across from him in the octagon. Whereas both Pearson and Njokuani represented strike-first opponents

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