The UFC has just dealt with one champion retiring when Jon Jones seemed to hang up the gloves a few weeks ago (only to seemingly unretire in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump teasing a UFC card at the White House). But could the UFC lose a second champion to retirement during the summer?
If Caio Borralho is to be believed, that might come to fruition at UFC 319 if Khamzat Chimaev defeats Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight championship.
During a "Nerd Talk" segment in a recent upload to MMA Today, Borralho is in the middle of a discussion about Chimaev's fight with DDP and how a potential fight between he and Chimaev would go down.
"I heard somewhere some people saying that if he wins the belt, he's going to retire," Borralho said. "I believe it."
Caio Borralho Feels He Can Beat Khamzat Chimaev -- As Long As Chimaev Doesn't Retire
Borralho did not precisely name who he heard the rumor from or where it originated; only that he's heard "little talks" and "whispers."
Borralho then followed up by saying he wasn't sure if he believed it would happen, but he hopes that Chimaev doesn't and he ends up facing the Emirati fighter one day -- potentially for the belt.
"I think we can do a phenomenal fight," Borralho said. "I know that I have the tools and the way to beat him. Fighting is nowadays not about being brutal only. I win all my fights with my brain, with tactics, with strategy and all that. That's why it's so hard to fight me because I can adapt so easy in the fight, you know?
"And I think everybody knows that. That's why everybody was ducking me."
This would not be the first time Chimaev announces retirement from the Octagon. After his impressive series of bouts in 2020 -- the year of his UFC debut -- against John Phillips, Rhys McKee, and Gerald Meerschaert, and his quick rise up the ranks, Chimaev appeared to announce retirement in March 2021 after complications in recovery from COVID-19.
Chimaev would end up returning to the cage at UFC 267 that October, submitting Li Jingliang.