Caio Borralho got back on track with a dominant win over Reinier de Ridder at UFC 326 before calling out a former middleweight champion for his next fight.
Showcasing solid striking and great grappling counters, Borralho consistently did more damage round after round with de Ridder just unable to mount as much offense. When it was over, Borralho had clearly done enough to get the nod with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27 in his favor.
“I wanted to KO this guy but he’s so tall, awkward,” Borralho
said. “It’s the comeback seasons and no one is going to stop us Fighting Nerds to get the f*cking belt, baby! I know that my grappling is high level. My grappling is the highest level in this division. I’m here to be the champion. I’m on my path. I feel like that I’m a better human being and a better fighter. The belt is always on the table … I tried to finish this fight.
“I dominated. That’s what I’m going to keep doing here. The Fighting Nerds are back motherf*ckers. Dricus du Plessis, where are you boy?”
An early exchange saw de Ridder get a little too aggressive and Borralho made him pay with a hard right hand that seemingly stunned the former ONE two-division champion. A moment later the fighters both threw knees with Borralho taking one low to the groin that forced a pause in the action.
On the restart, Borralho connected with a good body shot followed by one going back up top to the head as he continued to tag de Ridder on the feet. Another stiff right hand from Borralho backed de Ridder off again as he continued to show off his superiority in the striking exchanges.
With 90 seconds remaining in the opening round, de Ridder secured his first takedown with Borralho quick to work his back up again.
As the fight continued, Borralho showed no fear throwing hands with de Ridder as he connected with another stiff right hand. Borralho also landed a nasty overhand left as de Ridder tried to close the distance to look for the takedown.
Borralho continued to dish out more punishment on the feet, although de Ridder did manage to land some solid jabs and a knee up the middle but he just wasn’t doing a lot of damage.
At the start of the third, Borralho popped de Ridder with another hard right hand as he got a little more aggressive in an attempt to either get a finish or cement the win on the scorecards. Borralho then snatched his first takedown as he put de Ridder on the canvas and put his full weight down on the Dutch grappler.
With less than two minutes to go, de Ridder managed to escape back to his feet but the fight felt like it was slipping away from him. He did crack Borralho with a well-timed left hand but there just wasn’t enough power behind it to really hurt the Brazilian.
A big right hand from Borralho as time was running out saw de Ridder grab his eye, clearly affected by the shot landed. While not the most exciting affair, Borralho showed a well-rounded game as he shut down de Ridder to get the win.
He made a good callout with du Plessis still on the sidelines after he lost his title to Khamzat Chimaev this past August and perhaps Borralho will get his attention for a fight.
