Rising UFC Star Pitches Himself as ‘Only Option’ for Israel Adesanya

Caio Borralho details how a fight between him and former champ Israel Adesanya would go.

Jasmin Frank-USA TODAY Sports

"With all due respect", Caio Borralho wants to fight Israel Adesanya next.

Brazil's Borralho (17-1) is quickly rising through the ranks of the UFC's middleweight division, shooting up from #12 all the way to #5 with an impressive victory over Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Vegas 96 last weekend.

Borralho's near-finish brought him to 7-0 in the UFC, the longest win streak in the middleweight division besides the champ Dricus Du Plessis (8).

UFC's Caio Borralho. / Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

Borralho Sees Himself As Adesanya's 'Only Option'

Sensing he may not be too far off from a title fight, Borralho has set his sights on the Top 5 and one elite fighter he'd "definitely" like to meet is former champion Israel Adesanya.

"The same way I called out Jared, with all due respect, I think there is no other guy that Adesanya should face now," Borralho told Submission Radio. "If you see on the Top 8 of the division, I think he fought everyone but Imavov and Brendan Allen [with them] facing [each] other. Strickland, Whittaker, Vettori, DDP, Jared, all these guys, he already fought. So, I think the only option that comes to him is myself."

"This is the fight to make," Borralho argued. "I think it will be a fun fight. I want to fight him. I think it will be a good fight to my resume. And if UFC wants me to do one more fight before I go to the belt... why not fight a guy that is a legend of the sport and that was so dominant in his prime? So, definitely a guy that I wanna face just because nothing personal, but just because it makes sense right now."

Former UFC Champion Israel Adesanya / Jasmin Frank-USA TODAY Sports

Borralho Predicts Finish In Potential Fight

Adesanya is currently on the worst losing skid of his MMA career, only at 2, suffering back-to-back losses in title fights to Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.

Adesanya's last outing at UFC 305 saw him lose by submission (a known aspect of Borralho's game) for the first time as well, and "The Natural" cited that he'd have the wrestling and grappling advantage against Adesanya should they ever cross paths.

"I think he'll be always in doubt if I'm gonna put him down or if I'm gonna just trade punches with him," Borralho said of the potential matchup. "I'm gonna put pressure and maybe get a good knockout or a good takedown and definitely gonna finish him. With all due respect, always, but that's the way I see this fight going."

Adesanya vs. Borralho In December?

Israel Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman recently said in an interview with Combat TV that "The Last Stylebender" will potentially return before 2024 is over. That timeline may just work for Borralho, who added he'd like to fight Adesanya at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 - the UFC's final pay-per-view event of the year.

UFC's Caio Borralho. / Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

With Sean Strickland on deck for Dricus Du Plessis as well as Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev and Nassourdine Imavov vs. Brendan Allen all on the horizon, time will tell if Adesanya vs. Borralho joins the stacked middleweight lineup of fights we have to look forward to in the coming months.

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