Edson Barboza Returns In January, Faces Justin Salas

Tatame announced earlier today that a Lightweight scrap between 2 fighters in need of a good win is set for the upcoming January card.

Before May 26th, Barboza (10-1 overall, 4-1 UFC) was the top Lightweight prospect not only in the UFC, but arguably the sport. He was set to face former WEC Lightweight champion and returning UFC vet Jamie Varner (20-7-1-2 overall, 2-2 UFC) at UFC 146, and Barboza was naturally the heavy favorite going into the fight. But Barboza’s momentum would come to a crashing halt as Varner dominated the fight with his superior boxing and wrestling before scoring a shocking first round TKO win. It was the first and so far only loss of the Brazilian kickboxers career.

Salas (10-4 overall, 1-1 UFC) comes into the bout from a first round knockout loss to Tim Means (18-3-1 overall, 2-0 UFC) back in june at UFC On FX 3. Salas is fighting out of Greg Jackson protege Trevor Whitman’s Grudge Training Center in Denver, Colorado.