Top 15 ranked middleweight Caio Borralho is big on mantras. As he entered his last fight at UFC 301, the Fighting Nerds product carried with him a phrase. That phrase was manifested into existence in the cage that night back in May. Now, he looks to do it again with a new mantra.
“The mantra when I fought Paul Craig was that I was going to KO Paul Craig, and I did it,” Borralho explained. “The mantra to this fight is that I’m going to show the new champion has arrived.”
After making that expression a reality, Borralho is ready to do it again. This time, he’s ready not just to show that he’s better than the man across the cage from him – #5 ranked Jared Cannonier. This time, he’s ready to show the world that he’s what comes next in this division.
Of course, middleweight is a murky division at the moment. With Sean Strickland seemingly waiting in the wings for a rematch for the belt and Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev set to do battle in October – there isn’t a lot of certainty. Borralho believes with a win here, he could insert himself into that discussion.
“If I just win by decision, it’s not a bad win you know? It’d be a very tough win over a very tough guy. A win, I think, it going to put me in the mix. It could be me at any time,” he said while acknowledging that Sean Strickland would likely have first dibs. “But if I knock him out or finish him, I think that puts me as the right next contender [after Strickland].”
At the end of the day, he doesn’t really care what comes next. Saturday night will be about showing people what is present.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m going to knock him out or if I’m going to finish him – people are going to realize how good I am,” he said. “I’m going to show to the UFC, to the crowd, to myself, to everybody – the new champion has arrived in the division.”
Borralho’s fight with Jared Cannonier is the main event of UFC Vegas 96 this Saturday. The main card begins at 10pm EST on ESPN+.
