Sean Strickland is adamant that Caio Borralho making weight twice in a month impacted his performance at UFC Fight Night 258.
Borralho (17-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) weighed in as the official backup for the middleweight title fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 this past Aug. 16. Three weeks later, Borralho stepped on the scale again for Saturday’s main event vs. Nassourdine Imavov (17-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) at Accor Arena in Paris. He lost the bout by unanimous decision.
Strickland thinks whoever advised him to do that cost him big time.
“Caio is my buddy but he’s an idiot. He trained with us and was useless. Me “whats wrong with you” Caio “Im cutting, I’m an alternate” So you’re giving up 4 weeks of your camp cutting weight twice while having a fight coming up? Whoever told you to do that, please hit him.”
Imavov was a step ahead of Borralho in the fight, showing off his speed advantage throughout the five rounds. Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) thinks Borralho was physically compromised from the weight cuts.
“No excuse…. but……. making weight twice was utterly insane.. Youre bigger than me and I can barely make weight once…. Just feel like we got a little cheated because of that.”
