UFC Fight Night Predictions: Cannonier can get back to winning ways

Jarod Cannonier and Caio Borralho take centre stage this Saturday, August 24 at UFC on ESPN 62. This latest Fight Night presentation comes from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. TNT Sports will broadcast the event, which comes hot on the heels of last weekend’s explosive UFC 305 pay-per-view.

Here are my Cannonier vs Borralho predictions ahead of Saturday’s showdown.

You could never accuse Cannonier from ducking a fight. During his 24-bout career he has fought a murderer’s row of the very best across middleweight and light heavyweight. He has scored wins over Anderson Silva, Sean Strickland, Marvin Vettori and Kelvin Gastelum. Cannonier has suffered defeats to Jan Blachowicz, Glover Teixeira, Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya. No matter what, Cannonier is willing to fight anyone. 

This stacked resume has netted Cannonier a UFC Middleweight title shot in the past. He lost that one on points to Adesanya two years ago. A follow-up win over Strickland, who has since reigned as champion, and Vettori should have earned him another crack. Instead, Nassourdine Imavov stopped him in four rounds to halt any title campaign in its tracks.

Cannonier looks to put that reverse behind him and get back on track here. Even at the age of 40, ‘Tha Killa Gorilla’ is a threat to anybody at the weight. Last year, in his win over Vettori, Cannonier landed the most significant strikes in Middleweight history with 241. Time has not yet dulled this man’s edge.

Which gives Borralho an almighty task on Saturday. Not that ‘The Natural’ will be daunted by the scale of it. The Brazilian is 16-1 in MMA and unbeaten in the UFC. Since scoring a pair of victories as part of Dana White’s Contender Series, Borralho has beaten the likes of Armen Petrosyan, Makhmud Muradov and Abus Magomedov. 

Borralho knocked out Paul Craig on home soil in Brazil in his last outing. The 31-year-old has climbed to 12th in the middleweight rankings and will have his eye on Cannonier’s number-five slot. 

The Fighting Nerds representative is well-placed to take it too. Boasting a diverse skillset, he is comfortable on the ground or on the feet. Borralho has black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. With five knockouts, four submissions and seven decisions, the Sao Luis fighter can prevail no matter where the fight goes.

Cannonier’s key to victory is a little more clear-cut. The veteran prefers to let his fists do the talking, with 10 knockout victories dwarfing his five submissions and two decisions. Nobody has ever tapped him out, which might help coax Barrolho into the sort of stand-up fight he favours. 

Often fight previews featuring a 40-year-old always include a cliched paragraph or two about how “time waits for no man”. But I see no need for such a proclamation here. Cannonier has a lot left. He’s the underdog here but not by much, in my eyes. This is a fight the Texan can win. If he does, it’ll rank right up there with some of his best victories. If he doesn’t then we might need that paragraph full of adages about ageing and decline next time.

Borralho knows what he is in for here. Cannonier has been as close to the top as it gets. If the Brazilian wants to breathe that rarefied air, he has to win. It won’t be easy and it will likely be thrilling for fans. This is a proper fight with proper stakes. Sit back and enjoy.

Cannonier vs Borralho Fight Odds

Borralho is a 2/5 favourite to emerge victorious. Cannonier is priced up at 2/1 to secure the upset.

UFC on ESPN 62 Full Card

Main Card

Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho

Angela Hill vs. Tabatha Ricci

Ryan Loder vs. Robert Valentin Frey

Kaan Ofli vs. Mairon Santos

Neil Magny vs. Michael Morales

Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Gerald Meerschaert

Prelims

Dennis Buzukja vs. Francis Marshall

Zachary Reese vs. José Daniel Medina

Viacheslav Borshchev vs. James Llontop

Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Josiane Nune

Zygimantas Ramaska vs. Nathan Fletcher

Wang Cong vs. Victoria Leonardo

Cannonier vs Borralho Prediction

Sometimes I approach this section with utter conviction. With my mind made up long before the first paragraph has even been dutifully tapped out. Alas, not today.

Borralho has conventional brilliance going for him. A current-gen all-rounder who appears to be mastering MMA as an inclusive concept. If you were building a fighter in a lab, you could do a lot worse.

But Cannonier is road-hardened. An unrepentant puncher who has stared legends, icons and champions in the face and beaten many of them. 

Head vs heart is perhaps too simplistic a summation, but there is something cerebral about Borralho that clashes with the more visceral feeling I have about Cannonier. 

All hail the visceral as I am going to give Cannonier the nod here. Don’t ask me how he’ll do it, but I think he will. Borralho has mastered a certain level of UFC supremacy, but ‘The Killa Gorilla’ will keep him out of the top five for now. My pick is Cannonier at 2/1.

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