The UFC has announced a major middleweight main event that will go down in just a few weeks. Earlier today, the promotion announced that former title challenger “The Killa Gorilla” Jared Cannonier (17-7) will be taking on surging Brazilian contender Caio Borralho (16-1).
The main event will go down at The APEX on August 24th from Las Vegas. Starting with Borralho, this is a massive opportunity for him in his seventh octagon appearance. Borralho got his chance in the UFC after winning twice on The Contender Series in 2021.
Since then, he’s gone a perfect 6-0 inside the octagon and he’s made steps up in competition along the way. Most recently he took on Paul Craig back at UFC 301 in May and knocked Craig out in the second round. Now, he’ll take on one of the most dangerous contenders in the division.
UFC Fight Night
Jared Cannonier was on the cusp of a title shot when he took a main event against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Louisville back in June. Cannonier had won two straight fights over Marvin Vettori and former champion Sean Strickland on the heels of losing a decision to then champion Israel Adesanya.
Overall, he was 4-1 in his last five leading to that Imavov fight. He started out very well in the Imavov fight, but Imavov started getting his timing and was taking over. That said, the fight was razor close and Cannonier was starting to get back some momentum when he was hit by a big shot. He was visibly rocked but ended up being the victim of a terrible stoppage and suffered a TKO loss.
Cannonier and many were furious with the stoppage. He wanted a rematch with Imavov originally, the but UFC went in a different direction. Now, The Killa Gorilla has to take out one of the division’s most promising prospects.