Edson Barboza’s manager, coach ponder role of alleged eye poke in UFC on ESPN 2 headliner

After a quick knockout loss to Justin Gaethje on Saturday, members of Edson Barboza’s team have taken to social media to wonder about the role of an alleged eye poke in the fight.

Shortly after the UFC on ESPN 2 headliner, Barboza’s manager, Alex Davis, tweeted a picture that seemed to capture the moment of the poke. The post that went along with it read, “Not meaning to make excuses, but this did dictate the fight.”

On Monday, the Brazilian lightweight’s longtime muay Thai coach, Anderson Franca, posted a picture of Barboza on Instagram with a visibly red eye, along with the same image that Davis tweeted. In the caption, the coach praised Gaethje and said they had a lot of respect for him and his team, but he wondered how the fight would have gone if it wasn’t for the “incident.”

“I really think this fight would have been one of the best fights of the year,” Franca’s post read. “Justin Gaethje is an excellent fighter. He’s certainly among the world’s best. We have a lot of respect for him and his team. I don’t know if the result would have been different or not, but I believe the fight would have been much longer if it wasn’t for this incident. We appreciate everyone’s love. I can guarantee we gave it 100 percent to represent our country. A big hug to everyone.”

View this post on Instagram

Realmente acho q essa luta seria uma das melhores luta do ano, o @justin_gaethje è um excelente lutador, está com certeza entre os melhores do mundo.Temos muito respeito por ele e sua equipe, n sei se o resultado seria outro ou não, mas acredito q a luta teria sido bem mais longa, se n houvesse esse incidente.Agradecemos o carinho de todos, posso garantir q nos doamos 100 porcento p representar nosso país. Grande abraço a todos

A post shared by Anderson França (@andersonfrancamt) on Apr 1, 2019 at 5:39pm PDT

Barboza (20-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) met Gaethje (20-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in the ESPN-televised headliner of Saturday’s event at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The fight was called at the 2:30 mark of the first round after a huge right hand by Gaethje put Barboza out.

WE TOLD YOU THIS FIGHT WOULDN'T DISAPPOINT!@Justin_Gaethje puts Barboza away in round 1! #UFCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/WD40HcctN9

— UFC (@ufc) March 31, 2019

Gaethje is now riding a two-fight skid, both first-round knockouts, after consecutive losses to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier. Barboza, in turn, was sent back to the losing column after a dominant win over Daniel Hooker last December. Prior to that, Barboza had suffered back-to-back losses to champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kevin Lee.

Despite the loss, Barboza doesn’t seem to be doing too bad. Not only did he make an added $50,000 for putting on the “Fight of the Night” with Gaethje, but he got to welcome his newborn daughter, Victoria, less than 24 hours after the scrap.

For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN 2, visit the UFC Events section of the site.