Borralho drops Cannonier for decision win in UFC main event

Rising middleweight Caio Borralho made a huge leap toward title contention Saturday, defeating Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 48-46) in the UFC Fight Night main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Borralho solidified the victory with a massive fifth round in which he nearly knocked out Cannonier in the final two minutes. Borralho dropped Cannonier with a left hand and pounced on him, landing ferocious ground-and-pound shots that arguably should've forced a referee stoppage and kept the judges out of the fight. However, Cannonier survived until the final horn.

All three judges gave Borralho a 10-8 in Round 5, one of three unanimous rounds. Borralho took Round 1 and Cannonier took Round 2 on all three scorecards.

Borralho could enter the top five at 185 pounds with the triumph over Cannonier, the biggest win of his career. The two were No. 12 and No. 5, respectively, heading into Saturday's matchup.

Other than Borralho's near knockout, the fight - a stand-up battle for almost all 25 minutes - was very competitive, with little separating the two middleweights in some of the rounds. Perhaps what gave Borralho the edge was his defense. The Brazilian was never badly hurt, using head movement and footwork to avoid Cannonier's biggest shots. And that was evident in the statistics: Borralho outlanded Cannonier 153-83 in significant strikes.

Borralho, who was competing in his first UFC main event, started strong in the opening frame. He displayed a sharp jab and heavy leg kicks and put pressure on Cannonier.

But Cannonier was still in the fight when the horn for Round 2 sounded. "The Killa Gorilla" cracked Borralho on the feet at one point in the stanza and began landing at a higher clip.

Borralho took the lead in the third, hurting Cannonier up against the fence.

The fourth was extremely close, with the two fighters trading shots on the feet. And then Borralho cemented the victory in the fifth by landing the devastating punch that had Cannonier toppling over as if he was in slo-mo.

With the victory, Borralho remained unbeaten in the UFC at 7-0 and extended his winning streak to nine fights overall. He called out middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, though he likely needs at least one more win to secure a title shot.

Cannonier, a former title challenger, has lost two in a row for the first time since 2018.