Caio Admits Khamzat A Harder Round Than Strickland

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Caio Borralho is at the top of his game right now.

Over the weekend (Sat., Aug. 24, 2024), Borralho beat the brakes off perennial contender Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Vegas 96. The bout was at times competitive, but it ended with the Brazilian having scored multiple knockdowns and sending Cannonier to the hospital.

Not bad for a grappler!

As a result of the win, Borralho will likely be a Top Five-ranked contender when the new UFC rankings release tomorrow morning. A large part of his rise has been contributed to The Fighting Nerds, the Brazilian MMA team taking the UFC world by storm. However, Borralho also has trained extensively in Las Vegas with Xtreme Couture, where he’s crossed paths with many of the UFC’s top Middleweights like Sean Strickland, Chris Curtis, and Khamzat Chimaev.

That experienced helped him nail this unlikely upset prediction, and it also gives him unique insight into the current 185-pound standings. While talking with The Schmo, Borralho compared his sparring experience amongst those elite Middleweights and admitted that the wrestling of Chimaev gave him the most trouble.

“Oh dude, for sure the hardest guy to train is Khamzat,” Borralho explained. “He’s a very hard guy to train. His style, his wrestling background — he’s very good at wrestling. He goes hard all the rounds. I think he’s one of the hardest training to do.

“I’ve been training with Sean Strickland, [Chris Curtis], very tough guys and hard training. Training with Sean Strickland is very hard too because he always pushes forward like screaming at your face. But, I think Khamzat is the guy who is most difficult to train with for sure. But he is the guy that I develop myself most.”

Khamzat has a reputation as a gym crusher, and it’s not hard to see why. He routinely dominates first rounds with absolute ease and has obvious world-class skills. In shorter training rounds and a controlled environment, “Borz” is going to be a difficult man to beat. The problem for Chimaev — aside from making it to the cage at all — may come in the later rounds of fights, as we’ve seen him fatigue against Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman when the early finish didn’t materialize. Success in the training room is great, but it remains to be seen if Chimaev can replicate it against a talent the level of Borralho in a 25-minute fight where it really counts.

Next up for Khamzat is a rescheduled booking versus Robert Whittaker. The duo are expected (or not) to collide at UFC 308 on October 26, 2024 from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

It should be a great test of Khamzat’s Middleweight skills under the bright lights.