Caio Borralho admits frustration with Yousri Belgaroui matchup
The Brazilian middleweight initially questioned the fight but accepted it because he wants to remain active.
Caio Borralho admits he was frustrated when the UFC offered him a fight against Yousri Belgaroui at UFC 334. The No. 5 middleweight contender will face the unranked fighter at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 14, despite their distance in the division's rankings. The matchup initially surprised Borralho, who questioned why the UFC was booking him against an opponent outside the rankings. However, the Brazilian quickly changed his mind and decided to accept the fight as he did not want to remain inactive for an extended period.
Caio Borralho Initially Questioned the Matchup
With an 8-1 record inside the Octagon and ranked among the promotion's top five middleweights, Borralho was expecting to face a top-ranked contender next. The Brazilian has recently called out Dricus Du Plessis and publicly accepted a challenge from Khamzat Chimaev. However, the promotion had other plans, booking him against Belgaroui, who has won all three of his UFC appearances by knockout but is not currently ranked among the division's top 15 contenders.
Speaking on his YouTube channel about the matchup, Borralho admitted that he initially struggled to understand why the UFC had offered him the fight.
"When you look at it at first, emotionally, it's a fight that makes no sense at all," Borralho said. "He's a guy who's outside the rankings, even though he's coming off a good run of victories: three wins, three knockouts. That's how I saw it at first. I said, 'What are these guys thinking? What kind of madness is this? Do they want to test me?' My first reaction was one of surprise and frustration."
Caio Borralho Wants to Remain Active
Despite his frustration with the matchup, the Brazilian didn't take long to reconsider his position. For Borralho, staying active has become important after experiencing the consequences of a long layoff in his career. "The Natural" spent 13 months away from competition before facing Nassourdine Imavov in September 2025. Although Borralho returned to the Octagon six months later to defeat Reinier de Ridder by unanimous decision, he has now been out of action for another six months.
"But then I spoke to my manager and said, 'Tell them that if this is the fight they think makes sense, I accept it,'" Borralho said. "Because I'm a fighter and fighters fight. I made it clear that I would accept the fight because I want to fight. I spent 13 months without fighting when I fought Imavov, and that was one of the things that affected me in that fight, being inactive for so long. And now I've already been six months without fighting."
Borralho enters the matchup with an 18-2 professional record and one no contest. The 33-year-old will look to get closer to title contention when he takes on Belgaroui at UFC 334.
