Caio Borralho claimed his biggest scalp to date with a unanimous decision win against Jared Cannonier at UFC Vegas 96.
In the main event, the Borralho continued his impressive run and extended his promotion record to 7-0. After a back and forth four rounds, ‘The Natural’ pushed the pace over the final stanza to claim the win.
In the fifth and final round, Cannonier met the mat after being caught with a 1-2 straight down the middle. Borralho swarmed the ‘Killa Gorilla’ but the 40-year-old managed to survive. However, the domination from Borralho over the last 5 minutes saw him take the final round 10-8 on all three judges score cards. With the win, Borralho takes a monumental step closer to Middleweight title contention.
In the co-main event, Tabitha Ricci likely claimed her spot in the top 10 with a unanimous decision win against Angela Hill. ‘Baby Shark’ pushed the pressure from the opening bell, with some eye catching striking throughout.
Ryan Loder became The Ultimate Fighter at Middleweight after stopping Robert Valentin with brutal elbows. After a close first round, Loder took the fight to the floor early in the second before securing a mounted crucifix and reigned down the fight ending elbows.
Marion Santos scored one of the most impressive victories of the night with a highlight reel knock out against Kazan Ofli in The Ultimate Fighter Featherweight finale.
As suspected, the judges weren’t needed in the main card opener as Gerald Meerschaert submitted Edmen Shahbazyan with an arm triangle in the second round of their Middleweight contest. Shahbazyan’s striking is always a threat and almost ended the bout early in the second round when he cracked Meerschaert to the body before following it up with a flurry of strikes. ‘GM3’ was doing just enough to stop the referee from stepping in before getting back to his feet, taking the fight to the floor and cinching in a tight arm triangle.
In a decision heavy preliminary card, there were wins for Francis Marshall, Zachary Reese, Viacheslav Borshchev, Jacqueline Cavalcanti and Wang acing.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Borralho Results
- Caio Borralho defeats Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 48-46)
- Tabatha Ricci defeats Angela Hill by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ryan Loder defeats Robert Valentin by TKO (elbows) at 1:49 of Round 2 in the TUF 32 Middleweight Finale
- Mairon Santos defeats Kaan Ofli by knockout (left hook) at 1:30 of Round 2 in the TUF 32 Featherweight Finale
- Michael Morales defeats Neil Magny by TKO (strikes) at 4:39 of Round 1
- Gerald Meerschaert defeats Edmen Shahbazyan by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 4:12 of Round 2
- Francis Marshall (30-27, 29-28) defeats Dennis Buzukja by split decision (29-28)
- Zachary Reese defeats Jose Daniel Medina by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Viacheslav Borshchev (30-27, 29-28) defeats James Llontop by split decision (29-28)
- Jacqueline Cavalcanti (30-27, 29-28) defeats Josiane Nunes (30-27) by split decision
- Wang Cong defeats Victoria Leonardo by knockout (right hand) at 1:02 of Round 1
You can see Borralho’s in cage interview, below:
