Rio de Janeiro – UFC middleweight Caio Borralho may be fighting in his home country, but it’s all business for him when he takes on Paul Craig at UFC 301 on Saturday night.
“I love this matchup because he’s ahead of my in the rankings. That’s all, and he won from great guys from Brazil including the legend Shogun Rua,” Borralho told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“(It) will be awesome to test myself against this guy and prove what I’m capable of, and avenging all the Brazilians he fought.”
Borralho (15-1) is looking to get revenge for Craig defeating Brazilian fighters such as Shogun. Craig defeated Shogun at UFC 255 via TKO. His ground game is considered one of the best in the UFC. Borralho remains unfazed by the thought of grappling with him.
“I think his grappling’s very good. He has a lot of good traps. He has some patterns that he follow(s) to set up his techniques. I studied everything, I’m the Fighting Nerd, so I do my homework all the time,” he said.
“The test come I take a A+. On the ground the mistake that people do is people try to get rid of him (push him away). So they give space to him to put his feet on the hips and do his techniques. When he’s on the ground I need to pressure him.”
If Craig pulls guard Borralho won’t be afraid to follow him to the ground.
“If we go to the ground, because he’s going to pull guard, I’m not going to try just to get up soon as possible. I’m going to pressure him, try to make him uncomfortable in his own area, and then after that I’m going to get rid of him,” Borralho said.
“Ask him to get up and knock him out. That’s my plan.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Caio Borralho above. He takes on Paul Craig at UFC 301 on Saturday night.
