Caio Borralho has circled a date and a city for his return. Now he just needs a name.
The No. 6-ranked middleweight in the Meta UFC Rankings wants back in as soon as his body allows, and he’s made his intentions clear: UFC 334, November 14, Madison Square Garden, New York City.
“I think I’m around 90 to 95 percent, but I’m full training right now,” Borralho told MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz. “I’m doing everything, doing grappling, wrestling, striking and everything. I think a day for me to start a camp will be like in three, four weeks, and I want to fight in MSG, so this is the perfect date for me.”
For a fighter who had to watch his momentum stall from the sidelines, that sounds less like a wish and more like a demand.
From surgery table back to the shark tank
Borralho was supposed to face Joe Pyfer at UFC 330 in a pivotal clash at 185 pounds. Instead, injury dragged him out of the bout and into surgery, a brutal turn for a contender who’d been building a serious run.
He hasn’t shaken off the frustration.
“I think it was a great match-up against Joe Pyfer, he was one of the top guys in the world. I think it will be a great fight with him,” Borralho said. “I think we’re going to do this fight sooner or later, but I needed to pull out and do surgery and all this stuff. But I feel ready already. I feel that I’m getting the best shape of my life right now.”
The Brazilian isn’t just open to Pyfer. He’s almost inviting that booking to be revisited. The story between them feels unfinished, and Borralho talks like a man who wants to close that chapter under the lights of Madison Square Garden.
A résumé that’s getting hard to ignore
Since signing with the UFC in 2022, Borralho has done what contenders are supposed to do: win, and win often.
He’s 8-1 in the promotion, a run that includes victories over Jared Cannonier, Reinier de Ridder, and Abus Magomedov. His only setback came against Nassourdine Imavov, a man now hovering on the brink of a title shot against reigning champion Sean Strickland.
That context matters. It’s not just that Borralho is winning; he’s beating names that carry weight in the division, while his lone loss has aged well.
No surprise, then, that his thoughts are already drifting toward the belt.
“I’m just waiting for the UFC to give him a name and then we’re going to accept right away, doesn’t matter who,” he said. “I just need to make sense for me, for the company, and for the division. I had like seven straight wins and then I lost. Now I have a good win against de Ridder, that did very good last weekend (against Roman Dolidze). I think one or two more on the way to the belt. I’m just waiting for the name.”
That’s the calculation now: one or two more. Not four, not five. The margin between contender and challenger is shrinking in his mind.
Pyfer, Allen… or someone even higher?
On paper, the matchmaking puzzle isn’t complicated.
Borralho sits at No. 6. Directly above him: Joe Pyfer and Brendan Allen. Both represent the kind of fight that could either launch him into undeniable title contention or halt his rise in brutal fashion.
A rebooked Pyfer clash offers a ready-made narrative—unfinished business, a fight that was already deemed important enough for UFC 330. Allen, on the other hand, brings a different stylistic test and another highly ranked name for Borralho’s file.
The Brazilian isn’t publicly angling for one over the other. He just wants a fight that “makes sense” for the division and moves him toward gold.
The matchmakers will decide how steep that next step is. But with Borralho nearly healed, training hard, and pushing for a slot on one of the sport’s most iconic stages, the clock is already ticking.
If the UFC grants his wish and sends him into Madison Square Garden with a top opponent in front of him, we’ll find out quickly whether this run is merely impressive—or championship-bound.
