Caio BorralhovsReinier Ridder

De Ridder's grappling is world class, the kind that makes guys panic when he locks onto them. He choked out Kevin Holland in the first round and submitted Gerald Meerschaert too. The intrigue around this matchup got even more interesting when Israel Adesanya recently revealed he was set to fight de Ridder on short notice last year but had to pull out due to a training injury. Izzy said he was ready to take the fight on just five to six weeks notice, showing the respect de Ridder commands in the division even after his recent setback. Borralho's no slouch either. The Brazilian has slick submissions of his own, like that rear naked choke he got on Michal Oleksiejczuk. He also knocked out Paul Craig and went five hard rounds with Jared Cannonier before the Imavov setback. Both these southpaws can finish fights, but they're also comfortable grinding it out. The big question is which version of de Ridder shows up.

If his gas tank holds, his grappling could be a nightmare for Borralho. This one's locked in for the UFC 326 card on March 7th at T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and it's getting major exposure as part of the historic CBS broadcast deal. The fight was officially confirmed in early February and will air on the main card, giving this middleweight clash massive mainstream exposure as the UFC crosses over to network television for the first time under the new Paramount deal. The latest word from both camps sounds encouraging. Borralho's team at Fighting Nerds is optimistic heading into fight week, saying he's healthy after dealing with some issues during the Imavov camp. Meanwhile, de Ridder himself has opened up about feeling much better in this training camp compared to his rushed start in the UFC. He admitted that cramming five fights into 11 months left him completely exhausted, and he's focused on proper recovery this time around for the March showdown.