Undefeated Brazilian sensation, Caio Borralho finds himself knocking at Israel Adesanya’s door after his stellar performance against former title challenger, Jared Cannonier at the Apex Fight Night. Dispatching the ‘Killa Gorilla’ with a deserving unanimous decision victory, ‘The Natural’ is now the #5 ranked guy in the 185-lb division and as revealed, he has his eyes set on ‘The Last Stylebender.’
The Fighting Nerds fighter appeared on the Submission Radio and that’s when he opened up about his future plans. When asked about his next, if Adesanya was the target, Borralho simply said,
“Definitely (Israel) Adesanya… I think that there’s no other guy that Adesanya should face now because if you see on the top eight of the division, I think he fought everyone…I think the only option that comes to him is myself. So, I think this is the fight to make, I think it’ll be a fun fight.”
👊💥Caio Borralho wants his next fight to be against Israel Adesanya:
"There's no other guy that Adesanya should face now because if you see in the top 8 of the division, I think he fought everyone but Imavov and Brendan Allen, and Brendan Allen and Imavov are facing each other,… pic.twitter.com/MoKk9FtJHi
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 30, 2024
In all honesty, the Brazilian has a point here on this one. Izzy is now staring down the abyss, losing to the champion, Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 while the promotion has already named Sean Strickland as the next guy to face the Proteas.
In addition to that, Adesanya by this time has faced almost everyone in the top 10 except Borralho and logically he should be the next and only option for the Kiwi.
Furthermore, Caio dissected Izzy’s last outing with du Plessis, claiming that the 35-year-old has lost his magic.
Borralho weighs in on Adesanya’s submission loss
After taking a brief break after his title loss to Strickland, Adesanya returned to the octagon at UFC 305 to take on the new champion, Dricus du Plessis in his first title defense.
While pundits and fans had Izzy in their books, believing that the Kiwi’s exceptional counter-punching ability to neutralize the South African’s burst, du Plessis outdid himself and handed Izzy his first submission loss.
In fact, the fight was evenly matched at first with both fighters opening the bout with kicks and well placed jabs. Picking up the pace, Adesanya started catching the champ with well-timed shots and for a moment it felt like Izzy would reclaim the belt. But, all it took for the South African was a hook to turn the tides.
Catching the former title holder with a looping hook, du Plessis pounced on him and quickly took Adesanya’s back from where he submitted him using a rear naked choke. Reflecting on Izzy’s performance, Caio felt like the Kiwi gave up.
“There was a moment where he gave up the fight. Actually, it was like a minute before he got finished. I think he got tired, I think he lost focus. He was starting to do things he doesn’t usually do… I don’t know if Adesanya still has it, the same focus… He looked a little bit scared, the expression on his face.
Nevertheless, Izzy has dismissed any retirement rumors and confirmed that he will comeback even stronger.
