Caio Borralho is on the prime of his recreation proper now.
Over the weekend (Sat., Aug. 24, 2024), Borralho beat the brakes off perennial contender Jared Cannonier in the primary occasion of UFC Vegas 96. The bout was at occasions aggressive, however it ended with the Brazilian having scored a number of knockdowns and sending Cannonier to the hospital.
Not unhealthy for a grappler!
Because of the win, Borralho will probably be a Prime 5-ranked contender when the brand new UFC rankings launch tomorrow morning. A big a part of his rise has been contributed to The Preventing Nerds, the Brazilian MMA group taking the UFC world by storm. Nonetheless, Borralho additionally has skilled extensively in Las Vegas with Xtreme Couture, the place he’s crossed paths with lots of the UFC’s prime Middleweights like Sean Strickland, Chris Curtis, and Khamzat Chimaev.
That skilled helped him nail this unlikely upset prediction, and it additionally offers him distinctive perception into the present 185-pound standings. Whereas speaking with The Schmo, Borralho in contrast his sparring expertise amongst these elite Middleweights and admitted that the wrestling of Chimaev gave him essentially the most bother.
“Oh dude, for positive the toughest man to coach is Khamzat,” Borralho defined. “He’s a really exhausting man to coach. His fashion, his wrestling background — he’s excellent at wrestling. He goes exhausting all of the rounds. I believe he’s one of many hardest coaching to do.
“I’ve been coaching with Sean Strickland, [Chris Curtis], very powerful guys and exhausting coaching. Coaching with Sean Strickland could be very exhausting too as a result of he all the time pushes ahead like screaming at your face. However, I believe Khamzat is the man who’s most troublesome to coach with for positive. However he’s the man that I develop myself most.”
Khamzat has a fame as a gymnasium crusher, and it’s not exhausting to see why. He routinely dominates first rounds with absolute ease and has apparent world-class abilities. In shorter coaching rounds and a managed surroundings, “Borz” goes to be a troublesome man to beat. The issue for Chimaev — apart from making it to the cage in any respect — could come within the later rounds of fights, as we’ve seen him fatigue in opposition to Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman when the early end didn’t materialize. Success within the coaching room is nice, however it stays to be seen if Chimaev can replicate it in opposition to a expertise the extent of Borralho in a 25-minute struggle the place it actually counts.
Subsequent up for Khamzat is a rescheduled reserving versus Robert Whittaker. The duo are anticipated (or not) to collide at UFC 308 on October 26, 2024 from Etihad Area in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
It must be an incredible check of Khamzat’s Middleweight abilities below the intense lights.
