- Caio Borralho is excited to perform in front of his fellow Brazilians at UFC 301
- “The Natural” is eager to knock Paul Craig out
Caio Borralho is brimming with confidence ahead of his return to Brazil for UFC 301 against Paul Craig.
Caio wants to hear the Brazilian crowd once again
In an exclusive interview with Middle Easy, “The Natural” enthusiastically recalled how his hometown fans supported him in his last fight in Brazil. Borralho is certain he would feel the same energy at UFC 301.
“Very excited man I felt the energy from all the crowd in the last fight in Sao Paulo. Everybody was screaming my name the entire time so I think this not going to be different,” Borralho said.
Paul has holes in his game
Borralho knows that Craig is not an easy opponent. He recognizes “Bearjew’s” skill set and lethal ground game. However, the Brazilian is confident that his striking and wrestling are way better.
“What he do well? Triangle from the guard, he does it very very well. He’s very tricky in this position, very dangerous when he is with his back on the ground… He’s very experienced too. On the feet, he likes to throw punches, he likes to kick, he likes to throw punch with everything that he got. He’s like very mad every time that he fights you know he throws everything with emotions,” Borralho assessed.
“I think he’s a great opponent. I think he’s not in a good phase right now, coming from a loss but great opponent. But I don’t think he’s on my level on striking I think our level maybe match a little bit on the ground but when it comes to wrestling, when it comes to the fence work you know and the striking, I think he’s not even close to my level and I’m going to show everyone in the world on May 4th,” he added.
Caio wants to KO a bully like Paul
Borralho is proud for winning most of his fights via decision. However, he is eager to finish a “bully” like Craig, preferably via knockout.
“I’m going to knock Paul Craig out… There’s a group in WhatsApp, the name of the group that they have the entire my entire team is ‘We’re Gonna Knock Paul Craig out’ this is the name of the group. This is something that I want that much and it’s bad for him you know the only time that he got into decision, he lost and I’m the decision King. I don’t lose by decision… but this time I want the finish… For sure I want the KO. I already have a submission in my record in the UFC so for sure the KO.”
“I’m considering he’s a bully because I’m gonna knock him out you know… it’s bullying payback time. Every bully that tries to bully us is going to get back, is going to suffer and is not going to be different with Paul if he comes with this bully mindset. I’m going to make him pay the entire night,” he added.
Despite knowing that he could flatten Craig out, “The Natural” is also being cautious about losing focus. Borralho is aware that “Bearjew” would also play mind games with him and he is already preparing for it as early as now.
“This is going to be a surprise I already have a big surprise for him. I love it you know every time that I was watching him fight and I watch the weigh-ins like he’s so entertaining he’s so exciting. It’s going to be a mental warfare for sure but I think as I said I want to be one of the most intelligent guys in this game and not just fighting but the mental games is definitely like 90% of it so you need to be intelligent, you need to be smart in the mental games,” Borralho said.
Caio will be looking for the next victim
Borralho thinks the middleweight division is stacked with high-level contenders and it only makes him even more excited about who’s gonna be his next victim after Craig.
“This is one of the hardest division just like the lightweight division,” Borralho said of the 185-pound weight class. “It’s like very hard, a lot of tough guys outside the rankings, a lot of tough really tough guys in the rankings, few names that maybe doesn’t deserve to be there… I think after I [knock Craig] out maybe it’s time to get one of these really really good contenders… All these guys, they are in front of me in the rankings and maybe the next victims. Let’s see.”
Borralho has gone unbeaten in all of his five fights under the UFC banner. He is currently No. 15 in the middleweight rankings and a win over Craig would position him closer to a Top-10 opponent.
Watch Borralho’s full interview below:
