It took a while, but Caio Borralho finally suffered his first defeat in the UFC. In September, in France, the Brazilian was dominated by Nassourdine Imavov and, as a result, saw his chances of winning the middleweight title (up to 83,9 kg) slip away. But despite the tough setback, the Fighting Nerds team member is not shaken and exudes sportsmanship when recalling the fight.
In a video released on Carlos Prates ' official YouTube channel, Borralho made a point of praising Imavov's quality as a fighter. In the duel, the Brazilian was at a disadvantage in the striking exchanges and, when he tried to take down his rival, he was unsuccessful. Having failed in his strategy, the athlete, after much taunting of Nassourdine, acknowledged that his opponent had prepared well and deserved his place in the elite of the UFC middleweight division.
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"He waited for me, killing my jab. That screwed me. It was all his credit. I couldn't readjust to the fight. I already knew he was good, fast. I was expecting it. I knew he'd put his hand in front, but we didn't train with a guy putting his hand in front. I didn't adapt well; I had no way out of that. We practiced a lot of him throwing, me blocking, and starting to smother him. Since he didn't play, he had gas the entire fight," Caio declared.
Caio also candidly pointed out that his lack of rhythm hindered him in the fight, admitting he struggled to keep up with his rival. It's worth noting that the Brazilian last fought in August 2024. In any case, the athlete emphasized that the biggest problem in the Octagon was, in fact, Imavov.
“That’s where the lack of rhythm also comes in. I would get into a rhythm, but I lost it very easily. It was due to the lack of rhythm and because he was very fast. He hit very quickly, and that messed me up too. Every time I got close, found my safety, he would do something crazy and I had to take a step back. He deserves a lot of credit in this fight. You can’t take that away from him,” the fighter concluded.
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September was a very bad month for Fighting Nerds in the world's largest MMA organization. In addition to Borralho's loss to Imavov, Jean Silva and Maurício Ruffy were also defeated by Diego Lopes and Benoit Saint Denis , respectively.
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