Daniel Cunningham
In the co-main event of UFC 326, we saw a pivotal matchup in the middleweight division. Top ten contenders battled it out as Caio Borralho (18-2) took on Reinier De Ridder (21-4). Both of these men were close to title shots last year before losing fights near the end of the year.
This fight was a chance for both men to get back on track. When the fight started on Saturday, you could immediately see the urgency from Caio Borralho. He was light on his feet while bouncing on his toes firing straight shots at De Ridder. Borralho landed a ton of clean shots throughout the three rounds.
De Ridder took all the shots well and he did fire back himself. However, his game plan seemed to be centered on marching through the fire and getting the fight to the ground. He really never was able to have a ton of success on that front. Nevertheless, he was landing good shots himself that kept the fight close.
After two rounds at UFC 326, I had the fight even. In the final round, Borralho did the better job of landing the cleaner shots and when the scorecards were read, he won unanimously 30-27 on all three cards.
What’s next after UFC 326?
It’s rare in my opinion that someone nails their post-fight callout but that’s exactly what Caio Borralho did on Saturday night. When asked about what he wanted next, Borralho called out former UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis.
DDP is coming off a title loss to Khamzat Chimaev and he’s hungry to get back inside the octagon. Borralho would be a perfect fight for DDP to return to and the winner would be right in line to fight for the title. Brendan Allen is also someone calling for that DDP fight and Allen could also be a good opponent for Borralho.
If neither of those two fights happen, I’d potentially watch for the winner of the Israel Adesanya – Joe Pyfer fight that takes place later this month.
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