“Coxinha” Barbosa won the Pancrase
lightweight belt on March 14 by knocking out Japanese champion
Tatsuya
Saika in his third fight in the organization.
At only 28 years old, Rafael already has 22 MMA fights (17-5) and
even with a contract for three more fights with Pancrase, he
already dreams of fighting in
Rizin Fighting Federation or
Dana White’s Contender Series
“The Pancrase contract allows me to fight in these two events and
return to defend the belt if I am not signed. So I would really
like this opportunity,” Barbosa told Sherdog.com.
A black belt in karate and a brown belt in jiu-Jjtsu, Barbosa has
lived in Los Angeles since 2023 and trains at California Mixed
Martial Arts.
“I first came to the USA in 2021, invited by Lyoto
Machida to teach at his academy, but I had to return. In 2023,
Eddie Soares got me a fight with Mairon [Santos] at LFA in New
York. I barely had time to study who Mairon was. I lost the fight
but decided to stay, and today I teach at Black House, CMMA, and
other academies.”
According to Rafael, the training at CMMA is helping him change and
improve his wrestling.
“Wrestling is the strong point here. They have a lot of human
material, which has allowed me to evolve a lot in the last three
years,” he said.
Topuria’s Kryptonite?
Known in karate for his excellent distance control and good reach
for the division, Barbosa believes that reach and distance control
are the way to dethrone the current UFC lightweight champion
Ilia
Topuria.
“Topuria is champion for a reason, the guy is complete in all
areas, but Mauricio
Ruffy brings something he has never faced in MMA — distance
control and reach precision,” Barbosa said. “He can touch without
being touched. I consider him the worst matchup for Topuria
today.”