Six years later, Dione Barbosa and Karine Silva will once again meet inside a cage to fight, this time under the bright lights of the UFC, when the octagon lands Aug. 16 in Chicago for UFC 319.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Witch\u201d Barbosa was 2-0 as a professional when her coach received an offer to fly to Parana and face local talent Karine Silva at Katana Fight 9. Silva held a 9-3 record at the time, and Barbosa came out victorious via unanimous decision after three rounds.<\/p>\n
Looking back in time, Barbosa feels she was brought in to lose to Silva in Parana.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always see myself as the underdog, against all odds,\u201d Barbosa told MMA Fighting. \u201cThat motivates me, gives me that extra push. But to your point, yes [I was brought to lose]. But I just wanted to fight and test myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silva would win her next nine fights, including one Dana White\u2019s Contender Series appearance and four bouts in the UFC cage, and Barbosa would need to wait two more years to finally get her shot.<\/p>\n
Silva has gone 4-1 in the UFC with first-round finishes over Poliana Botelho, Ketlen Souza and Maryna Moroz, but lost her most recent one in a decision against Viviane Araujo. Barbosa won two of three in the UFC, including a recent bonus-winning arm-triangle choke victory over Diana Belbita.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember a lot [from that fight],\u201d Barbosa said. \u201cThe plan back then was to always use my grappling. I had nothing, nothing on the feet. I had just started training boxing \u2014 and it was boxing training focused on closing the distance for the takedown. My first amateur MMA fight was after a month of hitting pads, only. Everything happened so fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I remember we stayed on the ground for a long time, stuck on that boring 50-50, because we were both grapplers. In my head, I thought she would come to trade on the feet since she had more experience, she was more comfortable than me there. In my head, I would grapple her to death [laughs]. Stay there and try to always be on top position. Grappling in MMA was something new for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
They are two completely different fighters six years later, and Barbosa won\u2019t enter the cage expecting an easy win just because she has already beaten \u201cKiller\u201d once.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve fought before, but I\u2019m mature enough to know it\u2019s [six] years ago and we\u2019ve evolved,\u201d Barbosa said. \u201cShe was in the UFC before me, she has more experience. I fought her in my third MMA fight and she had 12, 13 fights, something like that. When they sent me that fight at the time I was like, \u2018I\u2019ll fight her or I won\u2019t fight anyone.\u2019 No one wanted to fight me at the time. There were no girls to fight, so I said, \u2018Let\u2019s go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Barbosa said she didn\u2019t feel jealous to watch a fighter she beat make it to the UFC first. Instead, she looked as inspiration \u2014 and a message that \u201cit\u2019s a matter of time\u201d until she got the call, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has evolved so much in the UFC, and that has definitely given her toughness,\u201dBarbosa said. \u201cI see great evolution in her. She\u2019s way more complete as an athlete now. Going to Fighting Nerds may have improved a lot her game, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs for myself, I see me as a completely different athlete today,\u201d she continued. \u201cBetter in every single aspect, especially in feeling comfortable inside the octagon, which is something that takes time. \u2026 I imagine this being a three-round war, and I\u2019m ready for this. Our first fight was like that, and we\u2019re both in different places, better physically and technically better. [When they offered me] I was like, \u2018Let\u2019s break each other more.\u2019 [laughs]\u201d<\/p>\n