Caio
Borralho is willing to take a risky matchup to stay active.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight is set to face
Yousri
Belgaroui at UFC
334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Borralho
is among the top-ranked contenders at 185 pounds, while Belgaroui
is unranked. The former recently detailed his reasoning for
accepting the fight.
Advertisement
Caio Borralho prioritizes activity against Yousri Belgaroui
after emergency surgery
Borralho had been sidelined following emergency surgery. Eager to
return to competition and avoid another lengthy hiatus from the
Octagon, the Brazilian told Sherdog that he’ll accept whatever is
offered to him to avoid ring rust.
“I’ve been almost six months without fighting,” Borralho said. “I
had to take some time off because I had to undergo emergency
surgery on my rib. I want to stay active. I believe I’m one of the
best in the world. Whoever they put in front of me, I’m going to
have to prove that I’m one of the best in the world. If this is the
fight you guys think makes sense, I’ll take it, because I’m a
fighter. This is my job.”
He acknowledged that the bout carries more potential downside than
upside from a rankings perspective.
“If I beat him, I maintain my position in the rankings; maybe I
won’t move up,” Borralho continued. “But there are all the other
things I talked about: not being inactive, beating a guy who is
coming in on a roll and who everyone thinks is going to knock me
out. This is a fight where I’m only moving forward. I’ll win this
one, move on to the next, win again and then go for the belt.
That’s how I see it.”
Borralho beat Reinier
de Ridder in his last outing, which saw him bounce back from
the lone defeat of his UFC career so far, against Nassourdine
Imavov.