December 28, 2024 4:30 pm ET
Caio Borralho didn’t get his want of combating former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Streaking contender Borralho (17-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) told MMA Junkie this previous October that was in discussions to face Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) subsequent. Nonetheless, Adesanya wound up getting booked towards Nassourdine Imavov (15-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) Feb. 1 within the UFC Struggle Evening 250 headliner at ANB Area in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A disenchanted Borralho defined what he thinks occurred.
“I feel the UFC supplied Izzy two fights: me or Imavov,” Borralho mentioned on the “Overdogs Podcast.” “After which, he abruptly posted a clip learning Imavov’s tape, and I used to be like, ‘Come on, bro.’ I despatched a message to Izzy, and was like, ‘Bro, why you selecting that?’
“He was like, ‘Bro, we’re going to struggle subsequent 12 months. We’re going to bop subsequent 12 months for the belt.’ It’s OK, I respect you for those who select that. I feel he selected proper. I feel Imavov is a greater struggle for him, and I feel Izzy is the favourite on this struggle.” Borralho thinks Adesanya’s essential benefit is available in his expertise of combating championship rounds on quite a few events. Imavov has been booked in three five-round UFC essential occasions – a unanimous resolution loss to Sean Strickland, a majority resolution win over Roman Dolidze, and a fourth-round TKO end of Jared Cannonier.
“Imavov, I feel he’s good and all that, however I don’t suppose he has the cardio for 5 rounds,” Borralho mentioned. “I don’t suppose he has the perfect mentality for 5 rounds. He will get pissed off loads into the struggle, and he fought a three-round struggle with Brendan Allen in Paris and it was like a boring struggle.
“They have been drained because the first spherical, and I feel if he does the identical factor with Izzy, Izzy goes to choose him aside. I feel he’s good at combating guys which are shorter than him. I don’t suppose he’s good when he’s combating guys who’re taller than him.”
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