Count Caio
Borralho among those who think Dricus Du
Plessis should stay in his lane at 185 pounds.
Right after cornering Bruna
Brasil at
UFC 312, top-ranked middleweight Borralho, conducted an
interview with Brazilian journalist Laerte Viana. There, the
top contender broke down what he thought about the champion of his
division, Du Plessis, as well as what the future lies for him and
the rest of the weight class.
Advertisement
“He doesn’t have a beautiful game but he makes it work,” Borralho
said of the champ. “He has heavy hands [and] a strong chin. His
biggest quality in my opinion is that even [when] tired, he keeps
the same pace. [He is] always very disciplined on his strategy and
never leaves a punch without an answer.”
Outside of the top five and looking in courtesy of his latest win,
a decision over former title challenger Jared
Cannonier, Borralho has his sights on the best middleweight
currently offers. Even if he does not want a specific fight for
himself yet, “The Natural” has mapped out options for the belt
before he gets in line for it.
“Every time I doubt Dricus, he won,” the Brazilian laughed. “So, I
think it would depend pretty much about his understanding of
[Khamzat]
Chimaev’s game. I don’t think so, in my opinion Chimaev would
win, but after all I saw Dricus doing, it wouldn’t surprise me if
[Dricus won instead].”
While a major member of the growing Fighting Nerds gym, Borralho
briefly spread his wings to train with light heavyweight kingpin
Alex
Pereira. After just one week with “Poatan” in Sao Paulo,
Borralho knew exactly where he and others stood when tasting some
of Pereira’s power firsthand.
“‘Poatan’ would kill him,” the Brazilian said flatly. “‘Poatan’ is
really effective on distance control and reach. Dricus makes a lot
of mistakes, and against ‘Poatan,’ you cannot commit mistakes. You
make a mistake [and] you are dead. I truly think Dricus would be
knocked out.”