Caio Borralho scored the most important win of his MMA profession in the principle occasion of UFC Vegas 96, coming near a knockout over one-time title contender Jared Cannonier after which referred to as for a shot at UFC middleweight king Dricus du Plessis.
Borralho realizes it’s extremely unlikely that he’s subsequent in line for the belt with Sean Strickland because the possible contender to rematch du Plessis within the close to future, however feels that his callout served its function regardless of not guaranteeing him a possibility.
“That is the third time I name him out,” Borralho stated. “Final time I referred to as him out he went on Twitter and stated one thing like, ‘Win two extra and we’ll discuss.’ I feel that is my third or fourth win since then. He has already overwhelmed Strickland, [Israel] Adesanya and [Robert] Whittaker, and the opposite guys ranked forward of me have fights booked now.
“I knew perhaps I wouldn’t go straight for Dricus, however it will make extra noise. And I’m positive that if Strickland will get damage, my identify can be within the dialog for a brief discover after this callout. He has already overwhelmed the others. If [Robert] Whittaker beats [Khamzat] Chimaev, [the UFC] will most likely name me as a substitute of him.”
Borralho has gained seven in a row since becoming a member of the UFC, including to his two victories on Dana White’s Contender Sequence, and stated UFC chief enterprise officer Hunter Campbell informed him after UFC Vegas 96 that he “most likely wants another battle” earlier than incomes a shot at gold.
“[Campbell] was tremendous pleased [with my performance],” Borralho stated. “He stated, ‘Within the prime 5 of this sport, you’ll be able to’t be a man that quits, that throws warning to the wind and fights reckless, and also you confirmed that right now. You confirmed high quality and coronary heart, and we’ll see what we have now for you. I don’t know if it’s going to be Dricus, however I’ll discover a enjoyable battle for you, and then you definately’ll go for the belt.’ I’m anxious to see which enjoyable battle is that.”
“I hope it’s Adesanya — respectfully, I’m planting that seed little by little,” he continued. “There’s additionally Jiri Prochazka reducing down [to middleweight], however I don’t know if it pursuits me as a lot as a battle with Adesanya, for instance. For now all I would like is to relaxation and take a while off. I fought three months in the past and once more now, so my physique wants a fast break, however I’m anxious to see what the UFC has in thoughts.”
Adesanya got here up quick in his try to regain the UFC middleweight title for the third time earlier this month, dropping by way of submission to du Plessis at UFC 305 and dropping to 1-3 in his previous 4 appearances. “The Final Stylebender” was 11-0 as a middleweight previous to this stretch, along with his solely latest loss coming in a 205-pound title match in opposition to Jan Blachowicz.
“I do know it’s a very good battle style-wise for me,” Borralho stated. “Prefer it or not, I’ve wrestling and jiu-jitsu, and we all know Adesanya’s weaknesses. He was dominant champion for thus lengthy and has an enormous fanbase, he’s gigantic within the sport, one of many largest stars within the UFC, so think about preventing this man. And I’m actually assured that I can win. I can take him to deep waters, particularly now that he’s not performing the way in which he used to when he was in his prime. I feel this battle makes whole sense, and I’d be very assured going into it.”
Borralho has further confidence after stopping Paul Craig with punches in Could and following it up with a call nod over Cannonier, and feels he would have gotten the knockout at UFC APEX if he had simply stopped hitting Cannonier on the proper time.
“The knockout was meant to come back, however I feel [the referee] didn’t need to danger it after his final battle was stopped too early,” Borralho stated, referring to Cannonier’s controversial TKO defeat to Nassourdine Imavov. “If I had raised my palms after the knockdown and walked away, I feel he would have stopped it. Reality is, I woke him up. I put him to sleep after which woke him up by hitting him [laughs]. Nevertheless it was an unimaginable efficiency. Everyone noticed the knockout and noticed that I’ve cardio for 5 rounds. Even my largest haters on Earth noticed I’ve cardio and knockout energy for 5 rounds.”
