The UFC middleweight division is heating up ahead of two pivotal showdowns.
UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will face the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 319 main event next month in Chicago. It’ll arguably be the toughest test of Du Plessis’s title reign after Chimaev passed all of his previous MMA tests, including recent wins over Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker.
Just weeks after UFC 319, top middleweights Caio Borralho and Nassourdine Imavov will fight for a likely title shot at UFC Paris. Tensions are ramping up between the two contenders ahead of their main event fight.
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Caio Borralho and Nassourdine Imavov trade barbs over UFC 319 backup
Borralho and Imavov both make strong cases for a title shot against the Du Plessis vs. Chimaev winner, and they’ll fight to solidify the next shot at UFC Paris. But Borralho claims he’ll be in Chicago at UFC 319 to serve as the backup for the main event.
In a recent interview with MMA Today, Borralho shared he’ll serve as the backup to du Plessis vs. Chimaev.
“See you in Chicago! Dricus and Chimaev, if you guys want to rest…I’m ready to fight!” Borralho announced.
As of this writing, the UFC hasn’t confirmed nor denied Borralho’s claims, but they have yet to announce a backup for UFC 319. Imavov was briefly linked to the backup role before surprisingly pulling out to fight Borralho.
In a recent post to X, Imavov didn’t mince words in responding to Borralho’s backup claims.
“Backup? [LAUGHS] Caio good only to take my leftovers, you’ll always come after, you’ll always stay behind me. It’s your destiny!” Imavov tweeted.
Borralho didn’t hold back with his response.
“How a guy says a possible Title Shot is a leftover???? Are u ok bro? Delusional,” Borralho said on X.
“Or he was just afraid to possibly fight Chimaev after he got his a** beat up when they trained together??? I heard it was a floor moping. Like 10 submissions in 5min.”
Viral footage of Borralho being choked out by Chimaev made the rounds on social media in April. Imavov and Chimaev trained briefly together earlier in their careers before going their separate ways and joining different gyms.
Borralho and Imavov are both coming off of the biggest wins of their careers entering UFC Paris. Imavov knocked out Israel Adesanya earlier this year at UFC Saudi Arabia, while Borralho hasn’t fought since outpointing Jared Cannonier last year.
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In the meantime, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka also announced he’ll serve as a backup to the UFC 320 headliner in October. Prochazka is scheduled to face Khalil Rountree Jr. in a main card bout just before the rematch between UFC light heavyweight champ Magomed Ankalaev and former titleholder Alex Pereira.
Prochazka also confirmed that the winner of his fight with Rountree will get the next light heavyweight title shot. Rountree most recently defeated Jamahal Hill at UFC Baku last month.
The full UFC 320 card is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
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