UFC Fight Night: Top Middleweight Contenders Set for Short-Notice Main Event

A rising prospect enters his first-ever headliner at a UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 24.

Timothy D. Easley/Special to the Courier-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

UFC Vegas 96 has finally got its headliner.

UFC Fight Night News: Unbeaten Fighter Books Short-Notice Debut in Las Vegas

Another Week, Another UFC Apex Show

We're less than three weeks away before the premier promotion returns to the crowdless UFC Apex for a Fight Night event on Aug. 24, which has gone without a main event for far too long. On Tuesday, the UFC announced a middleweight matchup between former title challenger Jared Cannonier and Brazil's Caio Borralho, scheduled for five rounds or less.

Top 15 middleweights will meet in the Octagon on August 24th!

🇺🇸 Jared Cannonier vs 🇧🇷 @BorralhoCaio will headline #UFCVegas96! pic.twitter.com/BG1tZsPX6b

— UFC (@ufc) August 6, 2024

Borralho Aiming For Seventh UFC Win In A Row

The main event spotlight is a first for Borralho, and it's much-deserved with the 31-year-old racking up a perfect 6-0 record inside the Octagon.

Borralho rides a 15-fight win streak with his last three victories coming over Michał Oleksiejczuk, Abus Magomedov and lastly Paul Craig at UFC 301 in his home country of Brazil.

UFC Middleweight contender Caio Borralho. / Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

A product of the Fighting Nerds, Borralho holds down the #12 spot in the UFC Middleweight rankings and has the opportunity to crack the Top 5 with a win over UFC veteran Cannonier.

Cannonier Looks To Regain Lost Momentum

Ranked #5 behind some key players, Cannonier enters his fifth-straight main event coming off a TKO-loss to Nassourdine Imavov in June.

It didn't come without controversy, however, with some thinking the referee stoppage might have been premature and that Cannonier was still in the fight.

UFC Middleweight Jared Cannonier. / Timothy D. Easley/Special to the Courier-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Whatever the case may be, Cannonier will look to bounce back in a big way against the fastly-rising Borralho and reinsert himself into the title picture at 185lbs. Before the loss to Imavov, "The Killa Gorilla" had won back-to-back fights over Marvin Vettori and Sean Strickland after unsuccessfully challenging then-champ Israel Adesanya for the title at UFC 276 in 2022.

UFC Vegas 96 Fight Card

Check out the rest of the line-up for UFC Vegas 96 on Aug. 24 below.

• Main Event: Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho
• Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Gerald Meerschaert
• Michael Morales vs. Neil Magny
• Angela Hill vs. Tabatha Ricci
• Dennis Buzukja vs. Danny Silva
• José Medina vs. Zach Reese
• Viacheslav Borshchev vs. James Llontop
• Josiane Nunes vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
• Cong Wang vs. Victoria Leonardo

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