CHICAGO – Caio Borralho thinks he’s the only one who can give new UFC champ Khamzat Chimaev a competitive fight – let alone actually beat him.
Borralho (17-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) was the backup fighter to Saturday’s UFC 319 headliner, where Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) dominated Dricus Du Plessis for a unanimous decision to claim the middleweight title.
The one-sided nature of the contest wasn’t a surprise to Borralho, nor is the reactions from fans calling it boring. He said no one at 185 pounds outside himself is equipped to deal with Chimaev’s grappling, and if he doesn’t get a submission or TKO, that’s how it plays out.
“He did what he does to everyone,” Borralho told MMA Junkie. “He dominated the guys with his wrestling and jiu-jitsu and all that stuff. I think people don’t have the answer for that. They don’t know how to prepare for that. They think it’s just about hire a lot of wrestlers to try to take you down and train how to defend takedowns. It has nothing to do with that. People make a lot of mistakes when they prepare to fight against Khamzat.
“He did what he always does, but this time he didn’t finish. When a grappler comes and hugs the guy and he doesn’t finish, it becomes a boring fight. It’s a title fight with high-level guys. Dricus Du Plessis was doing very good in the division. He was the reigning champion. When the grappler guys come and don’t finish, it becomes a boring fight like that.”
Borralho touts his past training experience with Chimaev as an X-factor in his favor. Although it’s been several years since Borralho went to Sweden to share the mats with Chimaev and they’ve both evolved since, he said the fundamentals of Chimaev’s game haven’t changed, and he knows them well.
“For me, it’s the same – I always see him as the same,” Borralho said. “He’s a phenomenal athlete, very strong. His wrestling is high, high level. It’s almost impossible to scramble with him because he does that since he was nine years old. He does scrambles all his life. I don’t think that’s the way. The same thing. I spent one month in his training camp when he was at All Stars, and I know very well how he works, his system and everything.
“I have an advantage between all the middleweight fighters: I’m the one that has an advantage to beat him because I know exactly what he’s doing and what is his system and the steps he goes through and how to deny those steps. I’m very respectful for Khamzat. He’s like a brother to me. But at this time, it is the level of competition. It’s me and him.”
Borralho might have been the backup for UFC 319, but now his focus shifts to his UFC Fight Night 258 main event vs. Nassourdine Imavov on Sept. 6 in Paris. He will be ready to do that fight, but said he will be ready for any twists before then.
With Chimaev potentially wanting to make a quick turnaround to fight at UFC 321 on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi, Borralho said if the UFC wants to call off the Imavov fight, he’ll be ready to slide into a fight for the belt – then win it.
“To be honest with you, if UFC comes to me right now and says, ‘F*ck Imavov. He’s a guy that gives us a lot of work. He didn’t want to fight on International Fight Week. He called the backup “leftovers.” He don’t respect the UFC. So f*ck Imavov. F*ck Paris. Get prepared to fight Khamzat in Abu Dhabi in October,’ I’m ready. If UFC offers me this, I’ll say yes right away.”
