UFC Vegas 96 Main Event Best Bets
After a trip Down Under, the UFC is headed back to the Apex for their final event of August before taking a weekend off. As usual, the UFC relies on either a heavyweight or middleweight main event to anchor the card, this weekend it is the latter. Also on the card will be The Ultimate Fighter 32 Finale bouts. The main business takes place in the main event with a possible passing-of-the-torch matchup. Read more from UFC Vegas 96 main event best bets.
Jared Cannonier hopes to hold onto his #5 middleweight ranking while bouncing back from a loss to Nassourdine Imavov in May.
Caio Borralho finally gets his opportunity to headline a card and jump up from his #12 ranking by taking on a former title challenger.
Will the 40-year-old veteran fend off the rising prospect? Or will Borralho throw Cannonier into his first losing streak since 2017? Read on to see how these middleweights match up and who will come out on top.
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Jared Cannonier
There are not many fighters that can claim they’ve competed in multiple UFC divisions. Cannonier came into the UFC back in 2015 as a heavyweight and went 1-1. He then turned his attention to the light heavyweight division and accumulated a 2-3 record.
His third and final division change was the best decision he made as he is now 7-3 in the middleweight division with losses to only the top of the division. He earned a title shot back in mid-2022, falling short to then champion, Israel Adesanya. He bounced back with two wins, including the night he defeated the eventual champion, Sean Strickland. However, a May loss to Imavov, which many consider an early stoppage, has halted that momentum for the 40-year-old.
Cannonier started his career as a head-hunter, looking to knock out all his opponents. He has insane explosivity and power. With age, comes experience, and with experience comes maturity.
Thus, he was finally able to round out his game and focus on the technical aspects. Not just for the striking side of things, but also looking to engage in clinch scenarios and wrestling. Cannonier has a good knack for switching things up when he needs to, but also relying on his power more efficiently to be successful.
Caio Borralho
2015 was the last time Borralho tasted defeat. That night was only his second walk to the cage as a professional and he came up short against someone who was twice as experienced as him.
Since then, he has not looked back, picking up 15-straight victories. He needed two wins on the 2021 season of DWCS to get his contract, but it was obvious he deserved to be at this level.
Three straight boring decisions later, he finally decided to turn up the volume and start being more entertaining. From a submission over Michal Oleksiejczuk, to outstriking a dangerous Abus Magomedov, Borralho stamped his last victory with a vicious knockout over Paul Craig.
Borralho is a BJJ black belt who is smothering on the mat and tough to deal with when he secures top position. His entries to takedowns are very high level, because he sets them up well behind his strikes.
Choosing to implement a karate-type stance and striking approach, this allows Borralho to bounce in and out of range with speed, making it hard for his opponents to anticipate what kind of offense he is coming with. High fight IQ can also be attributed to Borralho’s success, he is truly a student of the game. “The Fighting Nerds” is the gym he trains out of, and they take that name very seriously.
The Pick
It’s tough to go against someone as experienced and tenured as Jared Cannonier, but it seems his time is ending. On the other hand, Borralho’s journey to the top of the division is in full throttle and I feel he has the perfect style to negate Cannonier.
Whether it’s with his striking or his grappling, Borralho should be able to dictate the pace of this fight as well as where it takes place. I suspect we’ll see Borralho drag this to the mat initially to wear down Cannonier, then start letting go with his strikes down the stretch. There has been some action on Cannonier throughout fight week, but I’m still happy with taking the chalk on Borralho here.
Whether you want to throw him into a parlay or just play the chalk straight, I feel we are getting good enough value on a high-level fighter.
