Caio Borralho scored the largest win of his MMA profession in the primary 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 goal regardless of not guaranteeing him a chance.
“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 believe that is my third or fourth win since then. He has already crushed 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 could make extra noise. And I’m positive that if Strickland will get harm, my title might be within the dialog for a brief discover after this callout. He has already crushed the others. If [Robert] Whittaker beats [Khamzat] Chimaev, [the UFC] will in all probability name me as an alternative of him.”
Borralho has received 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 advised him after UFC Vegas 96 that he “in all probability wants yet another battle” earlier than incomes a shot at gold.
“[Campbell] was tremendous blissful [with my performance],” Borralho stated. “He stated, ‘Within the high 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 now we have 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 chopping 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 need 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 and regain the UFC middleweight title for the third time earlier this month, dropping through 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, together with his solely current loss coming in a 205-pound title match towards 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 therefore lengthy and has an enormous fanbase, he’s gigantic within the sport, one of many largest stars within the UFC, so think about combating 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 believe this battle makes complete sense, and I’d be very assured going into it.”
Borralho has additional 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 return, however I believe [the referee] didn’t wish to threat 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 arms after the knockdown and walked away, I believe 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. All people 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.”
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