Face of The Fighting Nerds, Caio Borralho has grown into a budding star in the UFC’s middleweight division, and was feeling the love from fans at UFC X late last month.
“I love receiving the love and the support from the people, from the crowd, from the fans. It’s my second straight year at UFC X. Last year was good, I felt it but this year I feel it even more,” Borralho told Cageside Press at the annual fan expo. “So I’m very happy. Living the dream, you know?”
Borrlaho, undefeated in the UFC with six straight wins and coming off a knockout of Paul Craig, is likewise happy with the work he’s put in over the past couple of years.
“I’m very happy. All the work that I put in is finally getting things to me. Getting attention, money, fanbase and everything. Media stuff. So I’m very happy, but still working my ass off,” he stated. “Still doing the same thing that I was doing for the past 10 years. Showing up to the gym, showing up to practice, don’t show up late, don’t skip practice. Keep growing my game, all my MMA game. Keep doing my thing.”
All that work has led to a ranking, and will no doubt have Borralho being considered a title contender in the future- the near future, perhaps. He competes in a division that is extremely fluid at the moment, however, with champ Dricus Du Plessis about to face off with ex-champ Israel Adesanya. After Adesanya, there’s Sean Strickland, Robert Whittaker, Khamzat Chimaev, Brendan Allen and others waiting in the wins.
“I think right now with Dricus and Adesanya, I think maybe Adesanya gets the belt,” Borralho predicted, turning his focus to the state of affairs in the weight class. “After this, I think Sean and Brendan Allen needs to do a rematch, because Brendan is coming in wonderful, six wins, seven wins. And Sean is doing an amazing job, but he didn’t finish Costa. So I think they might fight each other to see who is the number one contender.”
Borralho believes that should Strickland make it back to Adesanya, he’ll claim the belt again. Likewise, he believes Brendan Allen might have “The Last Stylebender’s” number.
As to who he might fight, Borralho ruled out Chimaev, as the pair are friends. “I prefer to fight Whittaker, Cannonier, there’s other guys I can fight in the division for sure.”
Watch our full interview with UFC middleweight Caio Borralho above.
