Some embrace the grind. Others favor unadulterated violence.
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweights
Edson
Barboza and
Billy
Quarantillo fall in the latter category more often than not—a
reality which will add another layer of intrigue to their encounter
when they face one another in the
UFC on ESPN 44 co-main event this Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in
Kansas City, Missouri. They have 27 finishes between them. Barboza
enters the cage on the heels of back-to-back losses. The former
Ring of
Combat champion last appeared at UFC 272, where he dropped a
unanimous decision to
Bryce
Mitchell on March 5, 2022. Quarantillo, meanwhile, has won 10
of his past 12 bouts. He last competed on Dec. 10, when he cut down
Alexander
Hernandez with knees and punches in the second round of their
UFC 282 pairing.
In advance of the Barboza-Quarantillo showdown at 145 pounds, a
look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this
point:
37: Years of age for Barboza, who was born on Jan. 21, 1986 in Nova
Friburgo, Brazil.
13: Barboza wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for
59% of his career total (22). His list of UFC victims:
Shane
Burgos,
Dan Hooker,
Beneil
Dariush,
Evan Dunham,
Rafaello
Oliveira,
Lucas
Martins,
Terry Etim
and
Mike
Lullo. Barboza owns one other win by submission (5%)—he tapped
Lee King
with an anaconda choke under the Renaissance MMA banner in 2009—and
eight more by decision (36%).
14: Knockdowns landed by Barboza as a member of the UFC roster,
tying him with
Chuck
Liddell,
Lyoto
Machida,
Mauricio
Rua,
Junior dos
Santos and
Thiago
Santos for fourth on the promotion’s all-time list. Only
Donald
Cerrone (20),
Anderson
Silva (18) and
Jeremy
Stephens (18) have been credited with more.
58: Rounds completed by Barboza as a professional mixed martial
artist. He has gone the distance on 13 occasions and carries an 8-5
record in those bouts.
237: Combined victories between the 11 opponents—Mitchell,
Giga
Chikadze,
Dan Ige,
Paul
Felder,
Justin
Gaethje,
Kevin Lee,
Khabib
Nurmagomedov,
Tony
Ferguson,
Michael
Johnson, the aforementioned Cerrone and
Jamie
Varner—who have beaten Barboza. They boast a cumulative .745
winning percentage at 237-81-1.
34: Years of age for Quarantillo, who was born in Buffalo, New
York, on Dec. 8, 1988.
5: Quarantillo victories by submission, accounting for 29% of his
career total (17). His methods of choice: two armbars, two triangle
chokes and one rear-naked choke. Quarantillo holds eight other
victories by knockout or technical knockout (47%) and four more by
decision (24%).
164: Significant strikes landed by Quarantillo in his unanimous
decision loss to Burgos at UFC 268 in November 2021. It established
a new personal benchmark—his previous high was 100—for the former
King of
the Cage champion.
49: Seconds needed for Quarantillo to dismiss
Sandro da
Silva with an armbar at a Strike Off Fighting Championship show
on June 7, 2014. Nearly nine years later, it remains his fastest
finish to date.
.723: Cumulative winning percentage between the four
opponents—Burgos,
Gavin
Tucker,
Michel
Quinones and
J.P. Reese—who
have defeated Quarantillo. They sport a combined record of 47-18.