UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho Event Preview & Breakdown

Borralho headlines a UFC card for the first time when he takes on Cannonier.

Drew Beaupre | Aug 20, 2024

(Zuffa LLC)

The UFC returns to the Apex in Las Vegas, NV this Saturday (August 24) for a UFC Fight Night event featuring a huge middleweight headliner between Jared Cannonier and Caio Borralho.

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The Main Event

The main event will see Jared Cannonier attempt to defend his #5 middleweight ranking when he takes on #12-ranked Caio Borralho, who will be headlining a UFC card for the first time.

Undefeated and he plans on keeping it that way 😤@BorralhoCaio returns Saturday looking for his 7th straight victory in the UFC! #UFCVegas96 pic.twitter.com/UoUR9x8ueu
— UFC (@ufc) August 19, 2024

“The Natural” has collected six UFC victories since debuting with the promotion in 2022 and most recently knocked out Paul Craig at UFC 301, while Cannonier will enter the night after losing to Nassourdine Imavov via controversial stoppage in another UFC Fight Night main event in June.

"THERE'S YOUR STATEMENT MADE" ✅

Jared Cannonier makes the final walk of the night Saturday at #UFCVegas96! pic.twitter.com/fYYx6VBOhO
— UFC (@ufc) August 19, 2024

The Co-Main Event

The night’s co-main event is a battle between ranked strawweight contenders Angela Hill and Tabatha Ricci.

Her last performance out was one of her best 👏

Catch @AngieOverkill in the co-main event Saturday night! #UFCVegas96 pic.twitter.com/I9mdUfbAPg
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2024

Hill will be looking to win three fights in a row for the first time since 2020 when she meets the #11-ranked Ricci, who is coming off a split decision victory over Tecia Pennington and is only two fights removed from a four-fight win streak that vaulted her into the strawweight rankings.

UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho Event Preview & Breakdown

May 11, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Tabatha Ricci (red gloves) fights Tecia Pennington (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports

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Fights You Don’t Want To Miss

Michael Morales vs. Neil Magny

Jan 20, 2024; Toronto, Canada, USA; Neil Magny (red glove) fights Mike Malott (blue gloves) during UFC 297 at ScotiaBank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports / Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

The unbeaten Moreales has a chance to break into the UFC’s welterweight Top 15 when he meets longtime promotional staple Magny. The 25-year-old has looked impressive in his four UFC appearances thus far, but “Haitian Sensation” reminded fans that he’s still got plenty of fight left in him at this point in his career when he scored a fantastic comeback-win against another rising talent in Mike Malott at UFC 297.

Ryan Loder vs. Robert Valentin

Loder and Valentin square off in the middleweight finals for The Ultimate Fighter Season 32: Grasso vs. Shevchenko. / (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Loder and Valentin will meet in Las Vegas to crown the middleweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 32, coached by Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. Team Grasso’s Valentin made a name for himself on the European regional scene before joining TUF, while Team Shevchenko’s Loder was a decorated collegiate wrestler before he made the jump over to MMA.

Fighters to Watch

Viacheslav Borshchev

Nov 11, 2023; New York, NY, USA; Nazim Sadykhov (red gloves) fights Viacheslav Borshchev (blue gloves) during UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

A submission-loss to Chase Hooper in his last outing left Borshchev with a 2-3-1 record since joining the UFC off Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021. “Slava Claus” is a dangerous striker and has managed to entertain fans even in his losses, but if he were to come up short against James Llontop here it could spell the end of his time with the UFC.

Edmen Shahbazyan

Dec 10, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Edmen Shahbazyan (red gloves) fights Dalcha Lungiambula (blue gloves) during UFC 282 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Shahbazyan returned from nearly a year away to knock out AJ Dobson last year, and now against Gerald Meerschaert he’ll try to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time since he joined the UFC as an unbeaten talent in 2019 and scored three first-round victories. Meerschaert is certainly capable of upsetting Shahbazyan, but given that “Golden Boy” has struggled more with being knocked out than being submitted this seems like its his fight to lose.

Cong Wang

Wang defeated Paula Luna on Road to UFC in May. / (Zuffa LLC)

A first-round submission in her lone Road to UFC appearance in March was enough for the UFC to sign Wang, who will make her promotional debut against Victoria Leonard in Las Vegas. “The Joker” holds a kickboxing win over former women’s flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko, and although she only has five pro MMA bouts Wang will want to get off to a fast start in the UFC given that she’s already 32 years old.

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UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho kicks off at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ on Saturday, so be sure to check back with MMA Knockout for live results and highlights from all the action on fight night.

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 10:00 p.m. ET)

• Main Event: Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho

• Co-Main Event: Angela Hill vs. Tabatha Ricci

• Ryan Loder vs. Robert Valentin

• Neil Magny vs. Michael Morales

• Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Gerald Meerschaert

Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 7:00 p.m. ET)

• Francis Marshall vs. Dennis Buzukja

• Zachary Reese vs. José Medina

• Viacheslav Borshchev vs. James Llontop

• Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Josiane Nunes

• Wang Cong vs. Victoria Leonardo