UFC Vegas 105’s Dione Barbosa doesn’t expect easy fight despite Diana Belbita skid

Diana Belbita has her back against the wall after losing five of her seven UFC fights so far, but that doesn’t mean opponent Dione Barbosa expects an easy night in the cage Saturday in Las Vegas.

Barbosa returns to action at UFC Vegas 105 after dropping a decision in a short-notice match with Miranda Maverick this past July, and she told MMA Fighting she’s treating Belbita as an elite fighter as she attempts to improve to 2-1 in the promotion.

“If it’s up to me, her bad streak will continue,” Barbosa said with a laugh. “I like this matchup because she’s experienced and has faced tough opponents like Molly [McCann], who just retired. But she has a lot more experience than me. I have 10 MMA fights and she has 24. This is the type of fight I want, to face and test myself against experienced girls.”

Belbita holds UFC wins over Hannah Goldy and Maria Oliveira, but lost when paired up twice against McCann, and also fell short against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Gloria de Paula and Liana Jojua.

None of that matters to Barbosa, who knows she’s also in need of a win.

“I’m going for a war,” Barbosa said. “I don’t take into consideration the situation she’s in right now. I’m also coming off a loss. I took a fight on short notice, but it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day it’s a loss. I’m training as if this was a title fight. I really, really, really want to knock her out but I’m a grappler. If I see an opportunity, I’ll finish it.”

Barbosa once again did her training camp at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas and found it brings advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, she’s always surrounded by high-level athletes who are open to exchange knowledge; on the other, it isn’t the most private environment.

“But I have no problem training with people that I might end up fighting in the future,” Barbosa said. “Sometimes it’s annoying, but it’s an opportunity. It’s harder for women to find people to train with, other women, so we have to train with those that show up—even if they’re from the same weight class. I like it. If we have to fight each other down the line, so be it. It’s all good.”

For example, after a successful debut against Ernesta Kareckaite at UFC 301, Barbosa called out Ivana Petrovic. She went on to meet Petrovic multiple times during this camp at the UFC PI. It’s all cordial according to Barbosa and their interactions wouldn’t stop them from facing off one day.

Barbosa was offered a fight on the recent UFC Mexico card, but ends up entering the cage a week after at UFC APEX. The Las Vegas resident was eager to compete after a long layoff, but ultimately prefers not traveling to Mexico City to compete.

“As soon as we heard about the Mexico fight we started preparing for the high altitude,” Barbosa said. “You have to spend more to prepare for that. We were going to go there three, four weeks prior. I was upset when they pushed me a week later because I wanted to fight, but at the same time it was good because I would have to invest a lot less [money] for this camp.”

“The Witch” wants to stay active and fight as soon as possible with a victory at UFC Vegas 105, and has potential opponents in mind.

“I was supposed to fight Casey O’Neill, we agreed verbally, but she got injured a week later,” Barbosa said. “She had knee surgery. In fact, she’s treating it here [at the UFC PI] and we see each other eventually. I want to fight her because she’s ranked, but there’s no way right now. Since they updated the rankings and JJ Aldrich is ranked now, I’ll call her out. They were going to give me a ranked opponent already, so why not?”