Caio Borralho represents the Fighting Nerds with pride and continued to do so with the biggest win of his career in Saturday's UFC Fight Night main event, scoring a decision over Jared Cannonier.
Borralho got Cannonier in trouble during the opening round, picking him apart with his kicks. The veteran contender and former title challenger, however, got himself on the board in the second rframe when he started to find his groove in his punching, which included a brief wobble of "The Natural" late in the round.
The two had an action packed third stanza and were just about even in terms of significant strikes landed, especially to the head. Borralho, however, ended up getting Cannonier wobbly. And even when "The Killa Gorilla" tried to fight back with his power, he stumbled, showing he was still rocked. Cannonier, however, was able to survive the round.
Borralho continued to bring heavy pressure in the fourth round, but the 40-year-old brought his power, landing damaging shots. By the end of the frame, notable swelling could be seen around one of Borralho's eyes.
But late in the fifth round, Borralho delivered again, landing a one-two that dropped Cannonier. The Brazilian scrambled and got to work with strong ground-and-pound. The American, however, managed to survive the attack and a subsequent choke attempt.
That was enough for the judges, as two scored the fight 49-45 and one 48-46, all for Borralho.
Caio Borralho Rocks Jared Cannonier Twice, Solidifies Himself As Middleweight Contender At UFC Fight Night
Borralho has won all but two of the fights in his professional career thus far. He's 6-0 in the Octagon after winning a contract through a victory over current Bellator fighter Aaron Jeffrey on Dana White's Contender Series. He entered this fight coming off a knockout of Paul Craig at UFC 301, and Borralho will now find himself in the mix of top middleweight contenders.
Borralho used his post-fight interview to call out Dricus Du Plessis, who retained his UFC middleweight title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, last weekend.
Cannonier, meanwhile, has now lost two straight and three of his last five, stretching back to his unsuccessful challenge of then-champion Adesanya at UFC 276 in the summer of 2022.