Middleweight prospect Caio Borralho took on Dagestani-born German Abus Magomedov on the main card of UFC Sao Paulo.
Abus seemed to be a top prospect before falling to Sean Strickland in a disappointing performance right before Sean won his middleweight title. He looked to prove that he could still be something in this division against a sharp grappler and well-rounded fighter in Borralho.
Borralho retreated and circled while Abus came forward early, with neither man landing anything significant. Borralho had clearly planned to avoid Abus early on after Magomedov gassed out early in his last fight against Strickland after a hot start. They eventually settled into a move even striking battle when Caio started to hold his ground. The Brazilian shot one takedown that was stuffed but little else happened, except when Borralho got eye poked.
During the second round the momentum of the fight slowly began to shift. Caio Borralho slowly began to get the better of the striking exchanges and become the forward-moving fighter. This continued into the third round where he most walked down Abus Magomedov and won striking exchanges consistently. With two minutes left Borralho took down Magomedov and settled in top half-guard. Abus turned to get up but that just opened the path for Caio to take the back. He got the body triangle and held control for the rest of the fight.
When the judges read the scorecards there was no surprise as Caio Borralho won by unanimous decision, continuing his undefeated run in the UFC. At 5-0 in the promotion, a top-15 fighter is surely in his near future.
Official Result: Caio Borralho def. Abus Magomedov by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
