Caio Borralho promised to knock out Paul Craig in front of the Rio de Janeiro crowd at UFC 301 last May. Borralho hadn’t had a single knockout victory since joining the UFC, but that’s exactly what he did, knocking Craig down and announcing his place in the middleweight rankings. His new promise for UFC Vegas 96 is a message he wants to send to the MMA world – that sooner or later, he will win the middleweight title.
Borralho will make his first main event appearance on Saturday when he faces Jared Cannonier at UFC APEX, and he told MMA Fighting he will prove he is ready to fight the best in the world.
“Everything we’ve built so far has brought us here, and now we have the opportunity to show the world that the champion has arrived,” Borralho said. “My mantra for the last fight was that I was going to knock out Paul Craig, and the mantra for this fight is that I’m going to show everyone that the champion has arrived. I’m going to show the UFC, I’m going to show the division, I’m going to show myself, I’m going to show the fans.”
“Jared has fought great fighters and only lost to champions. He had this recent loss that was pretty controversial (to Nassourdine Imavov). He’s tough to beat and he’s on a good path at middleweight. A good win over him, a submission or a knockout, definitely puts me in the running to be the next title contender. I don’t know what the UFC thinks or not, whether they’ll ask me to fight one more fight or anything, but I’ll be ready for the belt anytime. Beating this guy is the most important thing right now.”
Borralho even faced criticism online from his fans in his home country of Brazil when he predicted a knockout of Craig, especially since he had won four of his first five UFC fights by decision. However, he says he will not listen to anyone who downplays his new goal.
“If it bothers people, that means it’s working,” Borralho said. “People will talk about it, it will become a topic, and when it happens, jaws will drop: ‘He really predicted it.’ But I don’t care what people say as long as it’s a topic of discussion. The goal is to get people talking about me and get more attention because that sells fights and makes my image bigger. My mantra is: I’m going to show them that the new middleweight champion is here and they’re going to have to deal with me.”
The Fighting Nerds representative acknowledged that Cannonier was “very difficult to fight,” but noted that the 40-year-old veteran has been slowing down recently.
“People haven’t seen my stand-up game yet and that’s what I want to show in this fight,” Borralho said. “I’m going to stay on his face the whole time and set a pace that he can’t keep up with. He’s 40 now and we saw him slow down after the second round. I’m going to use my age and conditioning and my cardio, which is perfect for five rounds, to make him work. Let’s see what he can do.”
Cannonier has already gone all five rounds under the UFC banner, including when he challenged Israel Adesanya for the belt in a lackluster showdown. Borralho is attempting his first 25-minute fight in the Octagon at UFC Vegas 96, but he’s confident in his preparation.
“I think I’ll stop him early,” Borralho said. “Depending on how he reacts at the beginning of the fight, I can knock him out in the first round. But I’m ready to go five rounds, I’m ready for a fight. I don’t think he’s ready for a fight, I don’t think he has the stamina for it. I’m ready for the toughest fight of my career.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Jared Cannonier. He’s a phenomenal athlete and could surprise with good cardio and come prepared to get back on the road to the belt, but I’m prepared for anything. I’m ready for the unexpected.”
