To earn the biggest win of his UFC career, the nerd had to dig deep.
To earn the biggest win of his UFC career, the nerd had to dig deep.
For all of 25 minutes, [autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag] and [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] battled in a nonstop slugfest in the UFC on ESPN 62 main event. And in the the end, it was The Fight Nerds’ Borralho who dug just a little bit deeper to earn a unanimous decision win by scores of 49-45, 49-45 and 48-46.
The victory over No. 5 Cannonier should vault Borralho, No. 12, toward the top of the official UFC middleweight rankings – and he made it clear that better be the case.
“Tuesday, my name better be in the top five,” Borralo, who remained undefeated in the UFC, said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping.
Borralho (17-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) got off to a strong start with a calculated first round as he picked his shot wisely, but Cannonier (17-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) seemed to get his swagger going in Round 2, even at one point appearing to wobble Borralho. But in Round 3, Borralho clearly wobbled Cannonier with hard straight left in the final minute, which separated an otherwise close round. The action continued at a high pace in Round 4, with Cannonier busting open Borralho’s right eye by landing a hard combination.
There was no reason for either man to feel comfortable heading into the fifth, and it showed in their approaches, with Borralho and Cannonier still slipping and dipping and throwing counters at each other. Borralho, however, erased all doubt when he landed a right hook followed by a stiff left that dropped Cannonier to the canvas with under 2 minutes remaining. Borralho kept control by working for an arm-triangle choke for the remainder of the round, which sealed the deal.
With the hard-fought win in his back pocket, Borralho, wearing his signature thick black-framed glasses with tape in the middle, felt emboldened to declare a takeover.
“I’m the new face (of the middleweight division), even with some scratches,” Borralho said. “Everybody that sees these glasses must be afraid, because we are The Fighting Nerds. We’re coming to take over!”
Supplemental info:
+ Regional MMA titles
+ 10 KO victories
+ 2 submission wins
+ 7 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Improved ability to counter
^ Dangerous hooks and uppercuts
+ Hard leg kicks
^ From both stances
+ Strong inside the clinch
+ Serviceable wrestling ability
^ Defensively and offensively
+ Shows improved getups/scrambles
+ Works well from topside
^ Heavy ground-and-pound
+/- 4-2 opposite UFC-level southpaws
Supplemental info:
+ Regional MMA title
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
+ Judo brown belt
^ Multiple judo accolades
+ Muay Thai brown belt
+ 4 KO victories
+ 4 submission wins
+ 6 first-round finishes
+ Good feinting presence
+ Sneaky lead hand
+ Hard southpaw kicks and crosses
^ Attacks all three levels
+ Solid takedown ability
^ Inside the clinch or shots in the open
+ Solid transitional grappling
^ Works well to and from the back
Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho point of interest: Middleweight mashup
Nov 4, 2023; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Caio Borralho (red gloves) and Abus Magomedov (blue gloves) fight during UFC Fight Night at Ibirapuera Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason da Silva-USA TODAY Sports
The main event on ESPN features yet another middleweight matchup in the UFC’s Apex.
Steadily developing a hard-hitting game since stepping onto the UFC scene, [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] has made marked improvements under the care of John Crouch and the rest of the coaching staff at The MMA Lab. Now, moving much more smoothly, Cannonier can shift his stance pre or post-combination, punctuating his presence more effectively than before.
Typically utilizing pressure to create openings for offense, Cannonier keeps hard shots on a hair trigger, ready to come forward or counter at the drop of a dime. The 13-year pro has also seemingly picked up his stablemate’s knack for throwing the calf kick (or low leg kicks), showing the ability to attack his opponent’s lower extremities from both stances.
However, Cannonier is still not beyond being kicked or countered himself, so I’ll be curious to see how he approaches someone like [autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag].
A converted southpaw who fights out of the somewhat still unheralded Fighting Nerds team, Borralho has been successfully learning on the job during his undefeated run inside the octagon.
Although his game initially smacked of a poor man’s Conor McGregor impression on the feet, Borralho has steadily been adding layers to his striking – especially when it comes to his lead hand. Borralho possesses the standard attacks from the southpaw power side, but does a quiet amount of his work off of his lead as a naturally right-handed fighter.
Playing particularly well off of his feints, Borralho, akin to his opposition, wields a sneaky right hook that’s used both coming forward and off the counter. Borralho has also been smartly incorporating more jabs into his repertoire, which should come in handy opposite Cannonier.
Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho breakdown: Potential grappling threats
Feb 12, 2022; Houston, Texas, UNITED STATES; Jared Cannonier (red gloves) fights Derek Brunson (Blue Gloves) during UFC 271 at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Considering that both parties are dangerous in their own way from topside, no one should be shocked if this party hits the floor this Saturday.
As the statistics would suggest, Borralho is the more likely man to look for takedowns in this fight.
An accoladed judoka who transitioned into Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA, Borralho demonstrates a deceptively flexible takedown game. Even though Borralho could do a better job of setting up his shots with strikes, the 31-year-old commands an athletic level-changing double that can be utilized offensively or as a reactionary counter in the open.
When working from the clinch, Borralho appears to be competent with everything from trips to shuck-bys from the bodylock. That said, Cannonier, at least at 185 pounds, has proven that he’s not easy to control.
From Cannonier’s improved ability to defensively scramble to the slugging shots that he sneaks in mid-transition, the 40-year-old has come a long way from the light heavyweight who was prone to playing guard when taken down. And when Cannonier is the one who ends up on topside, the “Killa Gorilla” is quick to unleash hell from above in the form of unforgiving ground-and-pound.
Borralho is a solid transitional grappler from topside (particularly when working against the fence), but he’ll need to demonstrate improved urgency should he end up underneath Cannonier.
Despite being a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Borralho has shown to be a bit too content to wait for submission or stand-up opportunities off of his back. That said, if Borralho can create scrambling scenarios from either side of the equation, then he could find some key back-taking opportunities opposite the getup style of Cannonier.
Even though Cannonier works with an excellent coach and camp that ingrains solid getup tactics, the general process tends to involve a bit of back exposure – which can be dangerous when paired up with a savvy backpacker like Borralho.
Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho odds
The oddsmakers and the public are favoring the Brazilian, listing Borralho -250 and Cannonier +200 via FanDuel.
Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho prediction, pick
Nov 4, 2023; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Caio Borralho (red gloves) reacts after defeating Abus Magomedov (not pictured) during UFC Fight Night at Ibirapuera Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason da Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Although the oddsmakers opened this fight a bit closer, MMA gamblers are doing their usual thing in regards to getting tumescent over the thought of fading an aging fighter.
I can’t say I agree with the width of the current spread above, but I don’t disagree with who is favored to win this fight.
Even though part of me wants to fall into my usual trap of fading the public hype by picking the more proven product at a discounted price, I see some potent stylistic openings that Borralho could find in this fight.
Cannonier may technically have a winning record opposite UFC-level southpaws at 4-2, but the MMA Lab product – outside of a controversial stoppage to Nassourdine Imavov and a couple of knockdowns to former champions like Robert Whittaker and Jan Blachowicz – has sustained the majority of his stoppage losses and knockdowns to southpaw fighters.
In fact, when looking back through Cannonier’s catalog, southpaw counters and fighters who could jab from either stance have traditionally been stylistic kryptonite for “The Killa Gorilla.”
Although Borralho running into the wall that is Cannonier and eventually imploding down the stretch is an outcome that’s absolutely on the table, I can’t help but see the Brazilian’s improved lead hand and counters having some serious play this Saturday. Add in the fact that Cannonier is coming off a quick, 2-month turnaround off of being wobbled in his last bout, and I smell of a club-and-sub for Borralho that comes off of a right hook in Round 2.
Prediction: Borralho inside the distance
Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho start time, where to watch
As the main event, Cannonier and Borralho are expected to make their walks to the octagon at approximately 12:30 a.m. ET. The fight airs live on ESPN and streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 62.
Analyzing Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 62 odds between Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho, with MMA picks and predictions.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]
In a 5-round middleweight bout in the main event, Jared Cannonier and Caio Borralho meet Saturday at UFC on ESPN 62 — also known as UFC Vegas 96 — at the UFC APEX. Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the UFC on ESPN 62: Cannonier vs. Borralho odds, and make our expert picks and predictions.
The prelims begin 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+, while the main card starts at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+.
Records: Cannonier (17-7-0) | Borralho (16-1-0)
Cannonier is looking to bounce back after a 4th-round KO/TKO loss against Nassourdine Imavov last time out in the main event in early June. He is 2-2 in his past 4 fights, including a unanimous-decision loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 276 in a title fight.
Since making his debut, the southpaw Borralho has won 6 straight fights at the UFC level. He picked up a 2nd-round KO/TKO win at UFC 301 last time out against Paul Craig in early May. However, 4 of his 6 fights have ended up going the distance.
The 40-year-old Cannonier holds a 2.5-inch reach advantage, and he has a 4.62-to-2.91 significant strikes landed per minute advantage. The Brazilian fighter is much more accurate, however, posting a 68.36% significant strikes accuracy percentage and a 1.99 takedown average to just 0.47 for Cannonier. Borralho is much more accurate on takedown accuracy, too, at 63.16%.
It’s experience against accuracy in this main event. Cannonier (+200) has the reach advantage, and he has fought for the title, but he is also in the twilight of his career now.
However, you can’t back Borralho (-245), as he’ll cost you well in excess of 2 times your potential return.
Go with BORRALHO BY POINTS (+200) for the chance to double up, as this fight should be one which goes all the way, with the judges determining a victor.
YES (+108): WILL THE FIGHT GO THE DISTANCE? is worth a look, as Cannonier has ended up going the distance in 3 of his past 4 fights and 5 of his previous 7 bouts.
For Borralho, he has ended up going the distance in 4 of his 6 fights at the UFC level, too.
If you’d like a little wiggle room, in the event of a late Round 5 win, take OVER 4.5 ROUNDS (-112).
Visit MMA Junkie for more fight news and analysis.
Led by Caio Borralho and coach Pablo Sucupira, Nerds are taking over the UFC – and they’re looking for revenge.
[autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag] sat in the corner of a São Paulo gym and glanced up at the clock on the wall. The time for the meetup was near, but there was no sign of his man yet.
Fighters filed in, ready for their training sessions. Behind them entered a smaller man. He didn’t strike Borralho as a fighter. Borralho wasn’t sure exactly who he was looking for, but this couldn’t be the guy.
“Are you Caio? Are you here to train?” he asked.
Borralho nodded and replied, “Yeah, I came to train.”
“Oh, yeah,” the man responded without hesitation. “Let’s go. You’re going to train with me.”
Borralho followed the man, questioning the decision making that led him to this point.
“With this guy?” Borralho thought to himself.
It was 2014 and a few weeks prior to the meetup with the man who would change the course of his life, Borralho asked friend and fellow fighter Bruno Murata how he could fast-track his striking game.
At that time, Borralho was solely a grappler. His standup game was novice, so Murata recommended a mutual friend, Pablo Sucupira, a muay Thai competitor and boxing specialist.
“What the f*ck? OK, I’m not going to go hard with this thin guy. I’m not going to hurt him his first day,” Borralho remembers thinking.
Wrong.
What surprised Borralho more than Sucupira’s unassuming appearance was the beatdown he dished out during their first training session. Borralho remembers peeling himself up off the mat, depleted after just a few minutes.
“Man, that was the biggest ass beating I’ve ever gotten in my life,” Borralho recalled.
Nerds unite
The hard training session that day marked the start of a beautiful bond between teacher and pupil. Initially, Sucupira had one foot in the boxing world and Borralho cross-training with Demian Maia’s team. But as time passed, Sucupira became Borralho’s go-to coach, and Borralho became Sucupira’s star student. Eventually, Sucupira turned his full attention to MMA and decided to start his own gym. Borralho, of course, went with him.
The Fighting Nerds team now consists of one dozen coaches and dozens more fighters. But at the start, there was just two men.
“The name of the fighter who started all of this was Caio Borralho,” Sucupira told MMA Junkie. “When he arrived in the team, he was very raw, yes. I started to work with him. I always had a different vision of the fight. He was one of the guys who truly believed in myself and my vision. He paid the price doing the different things that I proposed to him and the different way of fighting. Then things started to pay off.”
Their gym, formally named Combat Club São Paulo, was literally built with a hammer and a nail by Sucupira.
“I painted the walls,” Borralho told MMA Junkie, laughing. “We built a big ring. We put a big octagon, the same size as the UFC octagon. We built that inside the gym. We actually built that together.”
The team slowly gained more members. Maia’s grappling coach, Wagner Mota, jumped on board, but Sucupira wanted an MMA-centric mind too. So he sought out Flavio Alvaro, a Brazilian legend with more than 70 fights.
“He said, ‘Oh, Pablo. I don’t know. Maybe if you pay me a lot,'” Sucupira recalls. “I didn’t have any money. I said, ‘No, no, no, brother.’ I don’t have money. If you want to come, you have to believe in what we’re doing here. Because it’s going to be a bet. I promise you’ll have something. But now, we just have the athletes.’
“He went to our gym, and I spoke with him a lot about my vision. He met Caio and the other guys. By the end, he said, ‘Hey, I’m here for free. I don’t want any money. Let’s make those guys big stars and then I get some money.'”
Pablo Sucupira (left) wins a muay Thai bout during his competition days.
Classroom mentality
The MMA landscape is full of “Pitbulls” and “Lionhearts.” Sucupira and Borralho refused trying to fabricate faux street cred. They were unapologetically nerdy.
Growing up, Borralho loved school. He taught math and chemistry to peers for money. Sucupira worked a desk job as a copywriter.
“Nobody (at work) gave me credit,” Sucupira said. “They said, ‘You’re too crazy. Your ideas are too wild.’ This hurt me a lot. I quit the marketing and just started fighting. But one day I needed to use that.”
One day he did use that marketing background in a monumental way. Brainstorming team names, he blurted out “The Fighting Nerds.” It was an instant selection.
“I was (immediately) like, ‘That’s the name. That’s the name that consumes everything,'” Borralho remembers.
Of all the Fighting Nerd branding angles, none is more distinct than the signature glasses sported by the fighters and corners, and even occasionally in-cage interviewers Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier. Even the UFC, with its generally restrictive policy against props, approved the glasses after some convincing by Sucupira.
“In the beginning, they said no,” Sucupira said. “But what I told them is I’m not making any money. I’m not selling glasses. I don’t have a sponsorship with glasses. It’s just the logo of our team. It’s the wig of Paddy Pimblett or Khabib. It’s the same as the big wig that they use. So it’s the same. I just put the glasses on.”
Unanimously, the glasses were a hit.
“This is an easy gift to give to people and attach people to our team,” Sucupira said. “So The Fighting Nerd glasses show to the world that the fighters are smart, because they think when nobody can think. When you’re inside a fight, inside a cage, with another fighter trying to kill you, it’s hard to think inside there. The adrenaline is too strong. If you’re able to think in that situation, you are one of the smartest guys in the world. This is what the glasses represent, that we think when nobody can think. We think when bullets are being fired.
“The Fighting Nerds are the most intelligent guys in the world, because they think when they are throwing kicks, throwing punches inside the cage.”
Pablo Sucupira lends Joe Rogan a pair of Nerd glasses after a win from Jean Silva.
Sucupira buys hundreds of pairs of lens-less black plastic glasses at a time. The signature piece of tape on each pair, Sucupira adds by hand.
“Just for this fight, I brought 350,” Sucupira said with a big grin. “… We make them. I bought just the glasses and then put the tape here. We keep the whole day doing it. It’s like therapy.”
The best thing about the glasses, explained Borralho (who admits he wore taped glasses in high school), is how it’s shown them how much they are respected across the globe after years being ridiculed for their name and appearance on the Brazilian regional scene.
“When I am in the (UFC Performance Institute), guys from other teams go, ‘Oh, give me a glasses,’ and they put the glasses on,” Sucupira said. “The most impressive thing, in Brazil, we had a fight. We fought, and our fighter won the fight, but the other guy went to our locker room and asked for a glasses, a Fighting Nerd glasses. He said, ‘I lost the fight, but can I have a Fighting Nerd glasses?’
“I thought, ‘This is bigger than the team.'”
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 28: Caio Borralho prepares to fight Aaron Jeffery in a middleweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season five week five at UFC APEX on September 28, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Not f*cking leaving
The Fighting Nerds breakthrough moment finally came in 2021. Seven years after the journey began, Borralho received an offer to compete for a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series.
In Sucupira’s coaching methodology, fighting is a problem needing to be solved. A proponent of formulating game plans specific to individual opponents, Sucupira instilled in Borralho a mentality of fighting smarter, not tougher.
“You have to find the best way to solve any problem,” Sucupira explained. “A fight is a big problem to solve.”
When Borralho fought Aaron Jeffery on the series, he solved the equation … but only part of it. The fight wasn’t exciting enough for Dana White, who passed on extending a contract offer.
The shuttle ride back to the hotel was quiet until Borralho perked up.
“Pablo, I’m not coming back,” Borralho said.
Sucupira replied, “How’s that, Caio? You have to come back.”
“No, I’m not coming back. I’m just coming back with the contract,” Borralho argued back. “I’m just going to train here.”
Sucupira texted Mick Maynard to inform him of the impromptu decision.
The response dots appeared. Maynard was typing.
“Awesome,” Maynard wrote back.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 19: Caio Borralho reacts after his TKO victory over Jesse Murray in a light heavyweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season five, week eight at UFC APEX on October 19, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
The gamble paid off. Maynard circled back a few weeks later and offered Borralho a short notice fill-in spot, up a weight class vs. Jesse Murray.
It was an easy yes. This time, however, the approach needed tweaking. Excitement was a necessary part of the equation.
“We knew that we needed to put on a show,” Sucupira said. “That was the way to solve that problem – and he did that. He put on a show.”
Borralho finished Murray in Round 1, and the UFC contract came, a massive moment for the entire squad of Nerds.
“I felt it was really hard to burst onto the scene,” Sucupira said. “But when we did that, it was a takeover.”
Nerds standing in front of a Nerd mural at their gym (left to right: Icao Brito, Jean Silva, coach Pablo Sucupira, Thiago Moises, Mauricio Ruffy)
Nerd World Order
Three years later, it’s another milestone. Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 62 headliner between Borralho and Jared Cannonier will mark the team’s first main event.
The Nerds enter with a tremendous amount of momentum. Although Borralho is the unofficial captain, other clubhouse leaders have emerged. Fans have become attached to the fighters – and their personalities.
“Everyone is different,” Borralho said. “We see [autotag]Carlos Prates[/autotag]. He smokes cigarettes and all this sh*t. He drinks a lot and other stuff. But when it comes about fighting, about studying, about putting a serious thing on the line, he’s one of the best. He trains his ass off. He’s very into it. Then we have [autotag]Jean Silva[/autotag], who is a crazy motherf*cker that barks, that talks sh*t a lot and other stuff. But when it comes about training, about fighting, about studying, he’s one of the hardest workers that I’ve ever seen.”
More than the glasses or their in-cage success, the team is tied by the message they want to send. It’s time for nerds to get their revenge – and inspire.
“When you think about a nerd guy, you always see a guy who wants to be the best in the class room,” Borralho said. “The nerd, if he’s going into a test and he took a B+, he would be upset. Like, ‘I wanted my A+.’ …We have a big message to inspire people. We’ve seen a lot of bully things happening in the world. A lot of this sh*t happening, it’s bully payback time.
“… Imagine a guy who suffers bullying all the time for being a nerd or wearing glasses or anything like that, and he sees big nerds fighting on the biggest stages of the world, fighting the baddest guys in the world and beating their ass. It’s really bully payback, so that really inspires them, not just to fight but just to be whoever they want. They have this powerful thing inside of them, just to overcome everything that happens in their life about bullying and other sh*t.”
Sucupira echoed, “We prove that you don’t need to be a bully to win fights. You don’t need to be angry to beat a guy. You don’t need to vibe in a bad way. We knock people out. We do bonus performances. But we do it in a love vibe. We do it liking each other.”
Brazil’s Carlos Prates celebrates his win by knocking out China’s Li Jingliang in their men’s welterweight division event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 305 at the Perth Arena in Perth on August 18, 2024. (Photo by COLIN MURTY / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE — (Photo by COLIN MURTY/AFP via Getty Images)
Beyond Borralho and the cigarette-smoking sniper Prates and the barking Silva, there’s [autotag]Mauricio Ruffy[/autotag], a powerful striker who already has fans buzzing after just one UFC appearance. There’s [autotag]Bruna Brasil[/autotag], who recently beat Molly McCann. There’s veteran [autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag], who joined the team after years at American Top Team. There’s UFC lightweight [autotag]Kaynan Kruschewsky[/autotag].
Sucupira and Borralho say to also keep an eye out for unsigned prospects Icaro Brito, Geovanis Palacios, Natalia Alves, Felipe Douglas, and Fabricio Azevedo, who could make a splash in years to come.
“I’m more hungry. I’m more pumped,” Sucupira said. “I like to be the best that I can. Now we are in the UFC, I think we have the structure to go one step ahead also. You can expect a better Fighting Nerds each year, more guys, more performances, and you can count on that. In one or two years, you can count on a Fighting Nerd champion.”
Sucupira and Borralho constructed a gym. They crafted a mentality. They formed a team around them and built a culture. Borralho gets emotional reflecting on the journey now that it’s paying off.
“I’m always thankful because when we started this sh*t, we were like, ‘Maybe we’re just crazy guys who believe a lot in ourselves. Let’s see if this works.’ We didn’t know. We already knew, but we didn’t know,” Borralho said. “To see it all the way through and all that we have already accomplished and to see all that we will accomplish, because it’s just the beginning of the takeover.
“… Seeing everything changing: money perspective, fame perspective, sparring perspective. It’s crazy. It’s weird to think about how far we’ve come and how far we’re still going. It’s the first headliner, the first of many. I’m top 12 in the world, soon to be top five.”
And perhaps someday, Sucupira and Borralho will break out the hammers and nails once more – to hang up something special.
“We’ll put a big belt on the wall for sure,” Borralho said.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 62.
The main event for the UFC’s latest home show is official after the headliners made weight Friday.
LAS VEGAS – The main event for the UFC’s latest home show is official after the headliners made weight Friday.
Ahead of UFC on ESPN 62 (ESPN/ESPN+), which takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex, middleweights [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] (17-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) and [autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag] (16-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) stepped on the scale at the official weigh-ins.
Check out the video from their trips to the scale above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 62.
UFC middleweight contender Caio Borralho reacts to Dricus Du Plessis’ title defense at UFC 305.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag] was impressed, but at the same time, not really by [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag]’ first UFC title defense.
Borralho (16-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who fights Jared Cannonier (17-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) in the main event of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 62, is in awe of how much success Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is having, despite his lack of skill, at least according to Borralho.
“It’s crazy this one because whenever Dricus fights, I always bet against him, you know,” Borralho told reporters on Wednesday at the UFC on ESPN 62 media day. “It’s crazy how bad he is, but how he makes it work, you know. It’s crazy how he makes it work.
“Props to him. I just need to congratulate him because even with bad technique, bad game plan, crazy style, he always makes it work, and he’s winning. He’s undefeated in the UFC, so he deserves this spot that he is right now. For sure, I just think about Jared – I don’t want to think bout anything else – but looking forward to getting this fight.”
Du Plessis is unbeaten since joining the UFC and is currently on a 10-fight winning streak. He won the UFC middleweight title by defeating then-champion Sean Strickland back in January and defended it this past Saturday by submitting Israel Adesnya in the main event of UFC 305 in Australia.
It looks like Strickland is up next as a challenger, but Borralho would like to offer another name deserving of the opportunity.
“If I’m being honest, I think Brendan Allen is one of the guys that deserves the shot because I think he has like seven or eight straight victories,” Borralho said. “He as supposed to fight a top five guy for his last fight, and the guy got injured. He then took a fight against (Chris) Curtis, who was No. 15. He took a lot of risk on that, and I think he’s going a great job inside the octagon.
“I just think he needs to do a better job outside the octagon in marketing, social media, and other stuff. … I think he’s the guy that really deserves that. I think Sean Strickland) deserves it too because he already faced Adesanya and Dricus, and I think with Dricus he won the fight. I think he deserves the rematch, too. I think these are the two guys that deserve it most.”
Caio Borralho isn’t sure Jared Cannonier has the same motivation ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 62 main event in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – ‘Fighting is a young man’s sport’ is one of MMA’s oldest and most true sayings. For [autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag], it’s one that will be in play for his next career move.
This Saturday, the rising Brazilian contender takes on 40-year-old veteran [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] in the main event of UFC on ESPN 62, which takes place at the UFC Apex.
Borralho (16-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who’s nine years younger than Cannonier (17-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC), wonders how much hunger and fight Cannonier has left in him at this stage in his career. He thinks that will be a determining factor in whether he finishes the former UFC title challenger.
“I think it can go either way (decision or finish),” Borralho said on Wednesday at the UFC on ESPN 62 media day. “It just depends on how prepared he is and how much he wants it. At 40 years old, let’s see how much he wants to stay in the position that he is and to go again for the belt and something like that.
“I’m prepared. I worked my ass off for this fight, and I think I deserve this victory. Let’s just see how prepared he’s going to come, and see how prepared he comes for me. I’m going to push the pace, I’m going to make the rhythm high at all times and let’s see how he behaves in the fight. It all depends on him and if he came very well-prepared. … I’m prepared to knock him out or finish him because I have the ground game, and he doesn’t have that much, so let’s see how Jared comes.”
Despite questioning his hunger to be the best at 185 pounds, Borralho still finds his opponent a formidable challenge. He does not underestimate Cannonier and has plenty of respect for him.
“I think he’s a very experienced guy, very explosive and has power in his hands,” Borralho said. “He knows how to take the fight where he wants it to go. Definitely an experienced guy. He’s faced a lot of tough opponents. All respect to Jared, but it’s my time now.”
Caio Borralho says he will “deserve a shot” at the middleweight title if he impressively finishes Jared Cannonier at UFC on ESPN 62.
[autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag] has been waiting for his opportunity to break through as a middleweight contender, and now he’s on the doorstep as he closes in on the UFC on ESPN 62 main event with Jared Cannonier.
Borralho (16-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has put together a 16-fight unbeaten streak in MMA competition, including six straight wins in the octagon after earning a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. He now draws former title challenger Cannonier (17-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) in the Aug. 24 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN, ESPN+), and he thinks this is the right opponent for him to prove he’s ready for the next level.
“He’s very experienced guy, he’s very consistent,” Borralho told MMA Junkie. “He can take the fight where he wants all the time, he can explode when he wants. I think he’s a very tricky guy. Very explosive, very strong. I think it’s going to be an awesome fight to watch.”
Although it might seem like Cannonier is especially vulnerable to be picked off in this situation because of a roughly two-month turnaround from a controversial stoppage loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC on ESPN 57 in June, Borralho doesn’t see it that way.
Borralho credited Cannonier for the way he takes care of his body at 40 years old, and said the potential damage taken from the loss to Imavov – however debatable – shouldn’t come into the narrative of their fight.
“I thought it was an early stoppage,” Borralho said. “I thought he was winning the fight, he as doing very good. He thought he was taking the fight where he wanted. I think it was an early stoppage. He was already recovered from the shot. … I don’t think he took that much damage from the fight.”
If Borralho is able to beat Cannonier at UFC on ESPN 62, it would alter his stock at 185 pounds in a major way. And if Borralho can finish his first UFC headliner in a highlight-reel fashion? He thinks it would be a hell of an argument to challenge the winner of the next divisional title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya, which takes place at UFC 305 in Australia one week prior to his fight vs. Cannonier.
“Just winning is going to put me in the mix with all these contenders in the top five,” Borralho said. “After winning in extremely impressive fashion, if I knock out Jared Cannonier or if I finish him on the ground or anything like that – I think it puts me right away to the next contender. My last mantra in the last fight with Paul Craig is that I was going to KO Paul Craig. And I did it. Now the mantra for this fight is I’m going to show the new champ has arrived. That’s what I’m going to show to everybody and that’s what I think I’m going to win in a good fashion and be the next contender for sure.
“But anything the UFC wants to give me, I’m a company man. I know what I have all my steps to go, but I know that I will deserve a shot if I finish a guy that was never finished in the right way in the middleweight division. He only lost to Robert Whittaker by decision, and he lost to Adesanya by decision, and that early stoppage against Imavov. If I finish him, definitely people are going to look at me as the next contender. That’s my mantra.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 61.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 301 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $280,000.
RIO DE JANEIRO – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 301 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $280,000.
The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.
UFC 301 took place at Rio Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
The full UFC 301 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
