Caio Borralho (16-1), a proud representative of the Brazilian Fighting Nerds, recently gave an in-depth analysis of his upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship bout.
Borrallo will face perennial middleweight contender Jared Cannonier (17-7) on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 62 at The Apex in Las Vegas. The middleweight, unbeaten in six UFC bouts, hopes a title shot could be on the way if he can beat Cannonier.
Borrallo believes the biggest advantage Cannonier has over him is “The Killer Gorilla’s” experience. Borrallo sees Cannonier as being able to control the pace of the fight and slow it down or speed it up at will. “The Natural” believes Cannonier’s biggest strength is his extensive experience in five-round fights, including an unsuccessful title fight against Israel Adesanya in 2022.
“I think his biggest strength is his experience,” Borrallo told Shakiel Majli. “He knows how to take the fight the way he wants it to go. [control] When you want to slow the pace of the game down a little, when you want to slow your opponent down a little, when you want to speed things up a little, [forces] He made many mistakes in the game. His experience [will] “Show me what’s most dangerous about him. Of course he’s a powerful guy, very big, full of strength and power, but he’s got a lot of main event experience, a lot of five-round fights, he’s a former title challenger, so I think that’s his biggest advantage over me.”
Meanwhile, Borrallo believes age will be on his side when he takes on the 40-year-old Cannonier. He believes the Cannonier he fights on Saturday is not the same Cannonier who knocked out Anderson Silva in the first round in 2019, nor is it the same Cannonier who fought Adesanya for the title. In his fourth-round knockout loss to Nassouddin Imavov in June, Borrallo thought Cannonier lost steam late in the bout. Borrallo believes Cannonier’s weaknesses will be exposed if the bout goes deep, and he plans to exploit them.
“And for me, the biggest advantage I have over him is the way he moves on his feet inside the Octagon, and then, of course, his age,” Borrallo said. “He’s 40 now, so I think he’s a different guy than when he was fighting Anderson Silva and when he was fighting for the title.” [at] 35-36 years old. Now that he’s 40, his body certainly doesn’t feel the same anymore. In the Imavov fight, he started to slow down a little bit in the fifth round. So he got a little sloppy. [he] When he slows down, he makes a little mistake, and that’s the hole I need to protect. [exploit] When I see him in the cage.”
