[autotag]Ray Borg[/autotag] said he has no good reason for missing weight at UFC on ESPN+ 25, other than the fact his body simply wouldn’t shed the weight.
Borg (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) came in over the non-title flyweight limit by two pounds at Friday’s official weigh-in, and instantly the former title challenger was criticized. Not only was it the fourth time in Borg’s UFC tenure that he’s missed the mark, but the latest mishap came just 10 months after he promised he’d never be in this situation again.
In April 2019, Borg said he would “leave the sport of MMA forever” if he missed weight again, and while he recognized those comments in a statement released following weigh-ins, he said his focus at the moment is centered on the fight (via Instagram):
Wish I had an excuse but I don’t, my camp knows that this is the most disciplined I have ever been during camp, weight was good all camp and all week. I stayed in contact with the crew at the UFC PI all week and followed all their protocols. The more we started cutting the less that started to come off, we were dedicated to making the weight and took the extra hour they gave us and did what we could with it. We asked for more time with all the intentions in the world to make the weight but unfortunately they only allowed us an hour. We still have a fight to win tomorrow and all my focus is on that, I was so confident in my ability to make weight that I even vowed to retire if I missed weight again, which is a subject that currently is not on my mind at the moment . I will put on a good show for my home town tomorrow night, thank you to my team for all the help along with my manager and the rest of my crew that was apart of this camp. Sorry to my opponent and his Team for the unprofessionalism and hope to put on a good show tomorrow.
Borg was fined 30 percent of his purse for missing weight. His fight against Rogerio Bontorin (16-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will proceed as planned, but now be contested at a catchweight.
What the future holds for Borg remains to be seen, but there’s now an even greater importance on getting a win at UFC on ESPN+ 25, which takes place at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, N.M., and streams on ESPN+.
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