Ellis Badr Barboza Confident of Beating Aliff at ONE Fight Night 23: Ok vs Rasulov

British Muay Thai star Ellis Badr Barboza is confident he can defeat Aliff Sor Dechapan in their upcoming Strawweight Muay Thai clash at ONE Championship’s event, ONE Fight Night 23: Ok vs Rasulov.
Barboza, 24, expects to seal a win in his second ONE outing as he predicts that he will finish his opponent via knockout in the first or second round.
“I predict a stoppage in the first or second round. I believe he’ll throw a lot of kicks and he’ll start fast, but I’ll work him out, chip away, and I’ll obviously use my leg here. It’s a good weapon of mine. I’ll punch his body and I plan to knock him out. The power of my boxing is going to play a big part in this fight,” Barboza said.
“He’s dangerous, but he doesn’t hit as hard as I do, and he’s not as tough as I am and I believe he hasn’t been in the ring with the caliber of fighters that I’ve been tested with the past. So, I take that experience as confidence. I just plan to finish him,” he said.
Despite his confidence, Barboza knows Aliff will be no pushover. The 20-year-old Thai won his first four contests in ONE’s weekly fight show, ONE Friday Fights with three of those wins coming through finishes. In his last outing, Aliff lost via unanimous decision against former ONE Strawweight Kickboxing world title contender Zhang Peimian.
Barboza realizes that Aliff has unique attributes, including being nine-centimeters taller, which gives him a significant reach advantage. But the former European WBC champion says he has devised a game plan to counter the Thai’s strengths and take advantage of a major weakness.
“I think he’s a really good fighter. He’s quite dangerous. He has some good techniques, like spinning techniques and flying knees. He’s very tall which can make him dangerous and rangy. But the people he’s beat are not on my level, and he got tested last time, and lost. He didn’t like pressure. That’s one thing I’d say about him. He likes it when things are going his way. I don’t think he has a big heart. He doesn’t like it when things are not going his way. He doesn’t like pressure,” Barboza said.
“I feel when I hit him, he will give up. He is not going to like it. If you give him time to work, he’s very talented, can be amazing, and very dangerous. But if you don’t give him that chance, which I won’t, and when I hit him with my skillset and my fight IQ, he’s going to be in a different fight to what he’s been in before,” he added.
Barboza had opened his ONE account with a big win against Thai fan favorite Thongpoon PK Saenchai that has since been ruled as a no-contest after the Brit failed a drugs test. Now, after returning from a six-month suspension, the Englishman is keen to pick up a win against another Thai fighter as he eyes to boost his credentials as a future ONE Strawweight Muay Thai world title contender.
Barboza and Aliff face each other at ONE Fight Night 23: Ok vs Rasulov which kicks off at 3:00 AM Mecca and is broadcast live on beIN SPORTS and ONE Championship’s website through watch.onefc.com.