Starch Madness (Edson Barboza x Terry Etim)
Starch Madness Mascot: Starchibald Spudd
A series of articles appreciating some of the best knockouts in combat sports
Welcome back to Starch Madness! In this installment, the knockout highlighted will be one of the most picturesque highlights the UFC has to offer! It is from the Edson Barboza x Terry Etim fight.
Edson Barboza is the owner of some of the most dangerous kicks in the UFC if not all of mixed martial arts. He throws his kicks as Joe Rogan describes, “with no fat on them”, meaning he is able to throw them while generating a great amount of force and quickness. His kicks also come from a variety of angles at any point in the fight without needing to create any extra movement that would telegraph them to his opponents generally.
Barboza is an accomplished martial artist that’s been fighting in the UFC since 2010 and is still active at this point. He’s become a unique fighter that is liable to shut the lights off of any opponent that stands before him and he’s quick enough to do it faster than you can blink. He has a long résumé of knockouts that he’s accrued throughout his seasoned career.
Some of his greatest hits being:
Edson Barboza recording the first and only (so far) leg kick TKO in UFC history against Rafaello Oliveira
Edson Barboza separating Beneil Dariush from consciousness via flying knee
Edson Barboza scoring the strangest and most concerning knockout in UFC history against Shane Burgos
These are all amazing highlights that could easily be the pinnacle of many martial artists’ careers. It can be surmised that Edson has some serious kickboxing and it has carried him through a rather turbulent career. However, it can be argued that his greatest highlight came in his fourth against English MMA fighter, Terry Etim, in January 2012. Edson came into this fight with a 9-0 record going 3-0 in the UFC up to this point.
Barboza was able to outpoint Etim all the way up to the third round. He’d beaten him with his patented punishing leg kicks and was overall getting the better of their striking exchanges through the first two rounds. He absolutely peppered Etim with strikes all over his head, body, and legs as he looked to cruise to a solid decision victory.
Although, that is not how this story ends. Barboza scored a nice boxing combination to the head and he punctuated it with a solid leg kick. He backed up and threw a devilishly stylish spinning wheel kick (which had been seldom seen anywhere up to this point in MMA) and scored a knockout that would forever etch itself as one of the best headkick knockouts and the first (and one of the few) spinning wheelkick knockouts in the UFC.
Edson Barboza making history with the first spinning wheelkick knockouts in the UFC against Terry Etim
Since then, Barboza’s UFC career has been streaky to say the least. His UFC record is 16-11 at the age of 36 years old. He is still doing his best to fulfill his goal of a UFC strap across his stomach, but it appears that his best days are definitely behind him as he is on a two fight skid. However things turn out for Barboza by the time he takes his gloves off for good, he will always be able to hold on to this incredibly special highlight (and a several others). However, in the case of Terry Etim, the lesson is: Tuck your chin and keep your hands up if you don’t want to be on the wrong side of history.