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Caio Borralho UFC

Top-ranked UFC middleweight contender Caio Borralho says he wants to fight Joe Pyfer next, hopefully this summer at UFC 330.

Borralho is ranked at No. 4 in the official UFC middleweight rankings, while Pyfer is close behind him in the No. 6 spot. With the UFC heading to Pyfer’s current home of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for UFC 330 on August 15, it’s the perfect date for these two to fight in the cage.

Caio Borralho Says He Wants Joe Pyfer Next

Speaking to AG Fight, Borralho said that he wants to fight this summer, and he thinks taking on Pyfer in Philadelphia at UFC 330 is the perfect matchup for both guys.

“The plan now is to fight in August, September, if it goes until October, that’s fine too. But I definitely don’t want to go past October. Even if it’s to fight someone further down (in the rankings), I don’t care. (Expletive) it, you know? September was perfect. (August is) Philadelphia, which also has a great chance of being (my next fight). Because (Joe) Pyfer is from Philadelphia,” Borralho said.

According to Borralho, he is still healing up from a rib injury he suffered before his last fight against Reinier de Ridder, which he won. But he’s hoping that it heals up fast and he can step back into the Octagon against Pyfer this summer.

“I’m in the final stages of recovery from my rib injury. I broke my rib two weeks before the fight with (Reinier) De Ridder, and I’m in the final stages of recovery. Rib injuries really take time to heal, there’s not much you can do. I’m doing everything I can, I’m doing hyperbaric chamber therapy, taking collagen every day, doing rehabilitation, doing everything I can. But the rib – I’ve studied it – is a place with poor blood flow. So, less blood flows through there, there’s less recovery, because recovery happens through the blood. It’s a place that takes longer to recover,” Borralho said.

Caio Borralho and Joe Pyfer are Both Chasing Sean Strickland

The UFC middleweight has a brand-new champion as Sean Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev in a shocker earlier this month at UFC 328. Neither Borralho nor Pyfer has ever fought Strickland before, so these would both be completely fresh matchups for both men. While Strickland seems to be fighting Chimaev or Nassourdine Imavov in a rematch for his next fight, both Borralho and Pyfer are fresh faces for the belt, so a title eliminator between both makes a lot of sense after Imavov gets his title shot.

Borralho is 8-1 overall in the UFC, winning against everyone he has fought so far inside the Octagon, save Imavov. In his last fight, he picked up a decision win over the aforementioned de Ridder. As for Pyfer, he is 7-1 overall in the UFC, with his only loss coming to Jack Hermansson. He is coming off a TKO win over Israel Adesanya in the last fight that vaulted him to the elite of the UFC middleweight division, and potentially into a title eliminator against Borralho in his next fight.