PHILADELPHIA – Esteban Ribovics wants a bonus at UFC 330, but not the type he’s been getting through his UFC run.
Ribovics (15-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC), who’s quickly become a fan-favorite lightweight, takes on fellow exciting striker Edson Barboza (24-14 MMA, 18-14 UFC) on the preliminary card of UFC 330 (Paramount+) – which takes place Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Many are already pitting the matchup as a potential Fight of the Night for the card, as Ribovics has won three of those bonuses in his last four fights and Barboza has won 10 in his UFC career.
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Ribovics enjoys the reputation he’s built and wants to put on a show, but one that involves him winning a bonus in a different style.
“Winning the bonuses has helped me a ton, especially having won them in a consecutive manner,” Ribovics said in Spanish at UFC 330 media day. “It’s helped me economically and also got me the name of someone who’s violent and goes out there to put in wars. I think it motivates me to get another one, but this time I don’t want Fight of the Night. I want Performance of the Night. I also haven’t won a $100,000 one. I want to win one.”
The Ribovics-Barboza matchup pairs two exciting strikers from different generations. Ribovics is 10 years younger than Barboza and has 20 fights fewer than the Brazilian. To some, this might have been an improbable matchup, given the generational gap between the two, but not for Ribovics.
“Yeah, I actually did think this fight could happen,” Ribovics said. “Once you’re in the UFC, you expect to run into these fights. There’s a saying I like that says, ‘Train so hard until your idols become your rivals,’ and that’s what’s happening. He was a guy, and still is a guy I respect a lot and I admire due to his trajectory, but he’s also just another guy in front of me.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Esteban Ribovics has different kind of bonus in mind for UFC 330
