Borg retires after Bellator, management cut him due to canceled fight
Former UFC title challenger Ray Borg announced his retirement from MMA after a rough Friday.
Bellator released Borg from his contract after he was forced out of a flyweight bout against Kyoji Horiguchi - scheduled for Saturday's Bellator 295 in Honolulu - due to weight management issues, promotion president Scott Coker told MMA Junkie's Matt Erickson.
"Things did not go as planned this weekend and I will not be fighting," Borg wrote in an Instagram post. "I made (a) promise to myself that if another incident like this ever happened, I would retire. So, going forward, I am officially out of the game and hanging it up.
"I just want to formally apologize to those I have let down and thank those that have been by my side throughout these crazy years. I am on a different journey in life now."
Borg didn't make it to weigh-ins Friday morning in Hawaii. The 29-year-old was set to make his Bellator debut after signing with the promotion in February.
"This is a professional fight league," Coker said. "This is not an amateur tournament. To me, I think that maybe it's time to say goodbye. ... We're going to move on and let (him) fight somewhere else. Good luck."
Borg's management team, Dominance MMA headed by Ali Abdelaziz, also cut ties with the fighter.
"We would like to apologize to Bellator MMA, American Top Team, and Kyoji Horiguchi for the unprofessionalism displayed this week that has forced us to make this decision," the group said in a statement issued to John Morgan of The Underground. "All parties involved did their best to make this fight happen, including the late offer to book the matchup at 135 pounds, and we thank everyone involved for those efforts.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Borg was not willing or able to make that weight, resulting in unnecessary complications for all involved. Given the circumstances, as well as our own embarrassment, we can no longer in good faith represent our now former client but wish him the best in his future endeavors."
Borg was once one of the most promising prospects in MMA, and though he did reach a UFC championship bout against Demetrious Johnson in 2017, a long history of fight cancellations and weight issues has marred his career. He missed weight for three flyweight bouts and one bantamweight tilt during his six-year stint in the UFC.
The UFC released him in August 2020 following two straight fight-week withdrawals. Borg's final Octagon bout was a split-decision loss to Ricky Simon that May.
The Horiguchi fight was supposed to be Borg's first flyweight affair since February 2020. "The Tazmexican Devil" went 3-0 after his UFC release, including two wins in the Eagle FC promotion at bantamweight.