Following his win over Jared Cannonier in August, Caio Borralho has been waiting on a huge fight for his next outing. The #6-ranked middleweight has won seven fights in a row since debuting in the Octagon in April of 2022.
It appeared for a brief moment that the Brazilian might be being lined-up for arguably the biggest fight in the division outside of fighting for the title. He had expressed interest in facing former champion Israel Adesanya following his loss at UFC 305 and it seemed like this option was being presented to “The Last Stylebender”.
Several months later it was announced that Adesanya will be headlining the UFC’s return to Saudi Arabia on February 1 but it will be against the contender that is one spot higher than Borralho in the rankings, France’s Nassourdine Imavov. During a recent appearance on the Overdogs Podcast, the Fighting Nerds stand out spoke about this fight and gave his thoughts on how it all played out.
“I think the UFC offered Izzy two fights: me or Imavov,” Borralho said on the Overdogs Podcast. “And then, he suddenly posted a clip studying Imavov’s tape, and I was like, ‘Come on, bro.’ I sent a message to Izzy, and was like, ‘Bro, why you choosing that?’
“He was like, ‘Bro, we’re going to fight next year. We’re going to dance next year for the belt.’ It’s OK, I respect you if you choose that. I think he chose right. I think Imavov is a better fight for him, and I think Izzy is the favorite in this fight.”
Adesanya said a similar thing during a recent YouTube video where he said that though Imavov was the only name that he was offered, Borralho was a name on his radar that he would have accepted if this fight was presented instead. “The Last Stylebender” referenced the message that he sent him, saying that he respects Borralho for wanting to test himself.
Borralho also weighed in with his thoughts on the fight that has been booked for February 1, giving the former champion an advantage when it comes to the five-round duration.
“Imavov, I think he’s good and all that, but I don’t think he has the cardio for five rounds,” Borralho said. “I don’t think he has the best mentality for five rounds. He gets frustrated a lot into the fight, and he fought a three-round fight with Brendan Allen in Paris and it was like a boring fight.
“They were tired since the first round, and I think if he does the same thing with Izzy, Izzy is going to pick him apart. I think he’s good at fighting guys that are shorter than him. I don’t think he’s good when he’s fighting guys who are taller than him.”
