Currently unranked at middleweight, Caio
Borralho has his sights set on top contender Dricus Du
Plessis.
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Borralho (15-1) took on Russian standout Abusupiyan
Magomedov (25-6) in front of his home fans, as the UFC returned
to Sao Paulo, Brazil, after four years on Saturday night. “The
Natural” displayed immense composure in taking his opponent to deep
waters and roping in an emphatic decision, just barely falling
short of a finish. The Brazilian is also now on the second-longest
win streak in the promotion’s middleweight division (five),
trailing only his next target, Du Plessis (six).
“Dricus Du
Plessis, you cannot run from me anymore,” Borralho said during
his post-fight interview in the Octagon. “I just won [against] a
guy that lost to the champion. So now I want your head and after
that I’m coming to [get] my belt.”
While Borralho is likely to break into the UFC middleweight
rankings in the next update, the Brazilian certainly did shoot for
the stars with a callout of Du Plessis. The South African standout
was widely regarded as the next title contender at 185 pounds until
Khamzat
Chimaev complicated the picture with a decision win over former
welterweight champ Kamaru
Usman at UFC 294 last month.
However, this isn’t the first time Borralho has called out Du
Plessis. “The Natural” was eyeing the booking even when Du Plessis
was unranked back in July 2022. Borralho had called out
“Stillknocks” after a grappling-heavy decision win over Armen
Petrosyan in the co-main event at UFC on ESPN 39.
Borralho further explained the callout during Saturday’s post-fight
press conference.
“It’s a funny story actually, he had a previous fight against
Marcus “Maluko” [Perez] and the fight was almost off, and I told my
manager to put me in,” Borralho said. “He tried it, but they got Du
Plessis to fight, and he did what he needed to do. I don’t have
anything against that guy, but I know that I can beat him, and he
is in the rankings right now, and I want him.”