Fairplay! Caio Borralho praises UFC executioner: 'I already knew he was good'

Caio Borralho at the media day for the UFC Paris. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter/UFC

It took a while, but Caio Borralho suffered his first defeat in the UFC. In September, in France, the Brazilian was dominated by Nassourdine Imavov and thus saw the middleweight title fight (up to 83,9 kg) slip away. But despite the tough setback, the Fighting Nerds team member is undeterred and exudes fair play when recalling the fight.

In a video released on the official channel of Carlos Prates On YouTube, Borralho made a point of praising Imavov's quality as a fighter. In the duel, the Brazilian got the worst of the striking, and when he tried to take his opponent down, he was unsuccessful. Unsuccessful in his strategy, the athlete, after much prodding of Nassourdine, acknowledged that his opponent prepared well and earned his place among the UFC's middleweight elite.

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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 also where the lack of rhythm comes in. I'd pick up the pace, but I'd lose it very easily. It's because of the lack of rhythm and because he was so fast. He hit really fast, and that messed me up too. Every time I got close, I thought I was safe, he'd do something crazy, and I'd have to take a step back. He had a lot of merit in that fight. You can't take that away from him," the fighter concluded..

Fighting Nerds in Crisis at UFC

September was not a good 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 e Benoit Saint-Denisrespectively.

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