It wasn’t always pretty but Caio Borralho used his grappling to maintain control and get the win over Yousri Belgaroui at UFC 334.
Repeated takedowns followed by ground control allowed Borralho to wear down the kickboxer over three rounds as Belgaroui just couldn’t get much offense going. When it was over the judges all scored the fight 30-27 as the Brazilian got the victory.
“I’m happy,” Borralho said after the win. “I came to this fight there are levels in the game. I came in here to show that my
experience, this is my 10th fight in the UFC. I came to this fight to show that. There are levels to this game my guys. It’s the belt hunt season. Get ready motherf*ckers. I always call out Dricus .. I’m not going to waste my time so one thing I want is my rematch with [Nassourdine] Imavov. I’m ready, I’m connected. It could be Brandon [Allen\ but I want Imavov.”
Borralho actually connected with a good left hand to start the fight and Belgaroui fired back with an effective body kick. Borralho then followed with a takedown attempt but Belgaroui defended, although the Brazilian was relentless to draw the fight to the ground.
Borralho then jumped on the back as he locked on the body triangle and started searching for submissions. Borralho nearly locked on a face crank as Belgaroui was stuck playing defense on the ground against an expert grappler.
Belgaroui scrambled to break free with Borralho stuck looking for a guillotine choke while holding onto head control before fighters got back to the feet again.
On the restart in round two, Belgaroui looked much more comfortable throwing his kicks and not allowing Borralho to establish his grappling. But a knee up the middle gave Borralho the chance to close the distance but he couldn’t maintain control enough for a takedown.
Borralho was patient until he got the body lock but he still couldn’t put Belgaroui on the ground. Belgaroui then connected withi a good knee to the body but Borralho fired right back with his hands.
Borralho then found the opening to finally get Belgaroui back to the mat again as he moved into side control. The Brazilian landed another takedown in the final round as he maintained control over Belgaroui.
