The Apex-held UFC Fight Night on August 24 finally has its headliner, and it'll see a pair of top middleweights throw down.
With less than three weeks remaining until the Las Vegas card, the UFC revealed the main event for Aug. 24 on Tuesday, announcing that Jared Cannonier (17-7) will defend his top-five ranking against the fast-rising Caio Borralho (16-1, 1 NC).
The late-notice bout marks relatively quick turnarounds for both men, with the American controversially defeated by Nassourdine Imavov this past June and the Brazilian up-and-comer getting the better of Paul Craig the previous month.
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Cannonier Looks To Rebound From Debated TKO Loss, Blemish Borralho's Perfect UFC Record
When he makes his return for a second headliner of the summer, the #5-ranked Cannonier will look to quickly erase the memory of his difficult setback two months ago.
The former title challenger, who is one of just two fighters in UFC history to record knockouts in three different weight classes, has been pursuing a second shot at the 185-pound gold since falling short against Israel Adesanya in 2022. While that journey got underway well with wins over then-future champ Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori, his progress was stalled in controversial fashion when referee Jason Herzog deemed him unable to continue following an onslaught from Imavov in their Louisville headliner.
A couple of months on from that widely questioned setback, Cannonier will return for redemption at the expense of Borralho, a Dana White's Contender Series alum who has risen to #12 in the division's top 15 courtesy of a perfect 6-0 record inside the Octagon. "The Natural" most recently secured his second performance bonus by knocking out Craig at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro this past May.
With this addition, the current fights expected to take place at the UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 24 are as follows:
- Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho (middleweight main event)
- Neil Magny vs. Michael Morales (welterweight)
- Angela Hill vs. Tabatha Ricci (women's strawweight)
- Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Gerald Meerschaert (middleweight)
- Josiane Nunes vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti (women's bantamweight)
- Dennis Buzukja vs. Danny Silva (featherweight)
- José Medina vs. Zachary Reese (middleweight)
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. James Llontop (lightweight)
- Wang Cong vs. Victoria Leonardo (women's flyweight)