UFC 301 does not have a stacked fight card like UFC 299 and UFC 300. However, several fights are flying under the radar. One such fight is the middleweight matchup between Paul Craig and Caio Borralho. The matchup will open the PPV card in Rio.
So far, the main stories of UFC 301 feature the return of Jose Aldo and the Rocky 1-esque similarity of how Steve Erceg became a title challenger against Alexandre Pantoja. Now, the face-off between Craig and Borralho has given fans something more to be excited for.
Craig has always sported the Scottish flag face paint during face-offs, reminiscent of Mel Gibson‘s face paint in Braveheart, where he played Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace. Borralho has never done it, but when he did it for UFC 301, he did it in style.
Craig has notable victories over Magomed Ankalaev and Jamahal Hill at light heavyweight but moved down to middleweight after successive losses. He won his middleweight debut but lost his next fight to Brendan Allen. Craig would aim to rebound from the loss against Borralho.
Caio Borralho vs. Paul Craig face-off has fans riled up
Caio Borralho has an undefeated UFC record. After two fights in Dana White’s Contender Series, Borralho made his UFC debut against Gadzhi Omargadzhiev at UFC Vegas 51. Borralho got into the UFC rankings after he defeated Abus Magomedov in his latest fight. Since Sean Strickland got a title shot with a victory over Magomedov, Borralho tried his luck as he called out champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Caio Borralho and Paul Craig (Image via: Instagram)The callout did not materialize as there were several contenders in the division. In the case of Strickland, contenders were not available as Israel Adesanya had already defeated them. Nonetheless, Borralho has landed a fight against a higher-ranked Paul Craig in his native Brazil. The face-off between the two has already had fans excited. See how they reacted to it below.
This will be a good one. I like both guys.
— Dustin in VA (@dustinIMX) May 4, 2024
Freedom!!!
— Chris “ChanmanV” Chan (@ChanmanV) May 4, 2024
🔥🔥🔥🔥
— Nick Brown (@ChubbyBrown216) May 4, 2024
hope the performance is better this time
— Cosy (@mbottdk) May 4, 2024
That’s rasslin!
— Tomohiro Eazy E (@NotBobbyD) May 4, 2024
Bro really wore his glasses over the war paint 😝🤣
Going for that distinguished warrior look I see 🤜💥— Nollie Delmonteh (@Delmontreh_No) May 4, 2024
All that only to pull guard tomorrow night
— Tartuffe…the Spry🥇 (@tartuffethespry) May 4, 2024
I wish that Craig fights with that same agression as on the face-offs, instead he pulls guard all the time
— 😎 (@KPragmatik) May 4, 2024
Damn Paul looks ready to lose for 14 minutes then try to get a submission at the end
— Baby Billy (@blast703) May 4, 2024
Paul Craig is the uncrowned champion
— Sherif Hassan أبو عبدالله (@Gann540) May 4, 2024
If victorious against Craig, Caio Borralho would certainly land an opportunity to fight a top-10 middleweight. Moreover, a finish over a seasoned veteran like Craig would make his case better to become a contender in the division. Both fighters have exceptional grappling skills, and fans can expect an exciting fight.
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