"I know that Ross Pearson is a good opponent and I'm working very hard for that fight," he said. "My camp is going great, I have no injuries, and I'm focused on my game and what I will do."
His camp at the Armory includes some pretty awesome grapplers:
"I'm training striking with coach Ouali and my partners Luis Cane and Marlon Moraes," he said. "I've been training jiu-jitsu and grappling with big names like Eduardo Guedes, Rafael Chaves, Pablo Popovitch, Roberto Cyborg {Abreu) and Vagner "Ceara" Rocha, and also I'm training wrestling at Imperial Gym. I'm doing my strength and conditioning with Joe Mullings. So I'm working all of MMA points for that fight because I want to be able to work standing up and on the ground in this fight."
He also understands that rising to the top in the stacked lightweight division is going to take some time:
"I'm not worried about that right now," he said. "I just want to do a good job and keep working step by step to reach my earned space in the UFC. I have great partners and great coaches and I want to do a good job."
A lot of people just focus on Barboza's striking, but the purple belt in BJJ is definitely working with the right people to develop his grappling, and he could very well be a force at 155 in the years to come.