Caio Borralho traveled to South Africa to call out middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, but Du Plessis responded by inviting him to his gym for sparring. Du Plessis told Borralho he could post videos of their sparring sessions if he wanted. Borralho replied by telling Du Plessis to stop acting like a child and sign a contract. Du Plessis questioned why Borralho thinks his name is even in contract negotiations and challenged him to show up at the gym, which was 30 minutes away. Meanwhile, multiple insiders have reported that a bout between Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman is in development.
Caio Borralho made the trip to South Africa to publicly call out middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, but the confrontation did not go entirely as the challenger planned. Du Plessis responded not with a contract demand of his own but with an open invitation to his gym, telling Borralho he was welcome to come spar and could even film and post the sessions if he wished.
Borralho, ranked fourth at middleweight with an 18-2-0 record, fired back and told Du Plessis to stop acting like a child and simply sign a contract. The Brazilian southpaw, who fights out of The Fighting Nerds, is 33 years old and carries a striking accuracy of 56 percent, among the sharper numbers in the division.
Du Plessis was dismissive of the idea that his name is currently part of any contract talks involving Borralho. The South African champion, 32, holds a 23-3-0 record and sits at number two in the divisional rankings and seventh in the pound-for-pound standings. Fighting out of a switch stance for Team CIT, he lands 5.18 significant strikes per minute and adds 2.22 takedowns per fifteen minutes, giving him a well-rounded threat profile at 185 centimetres tall with a 193-centimetre reach. Du Plessis pointed out that his gym was roughly thirty minutes away and reiterated the open-door offer.
Adding another layer to the champion's situation, multiple insiders have reported that a bout between Du Plessis and former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is in development, though that report is unconfirmed. Usman, 39, carries a 21-4-0 record and would be moving up from welterweight, where he is currently ranked eighth.
Why it matters
- Borralho at number four is a credible title contender, making the public back-and-forth a genuine divisional story
- An unconfirmed Du Plessis versus Usman matchup, if it materialises, would leapfrog Borralho in the title queue
- The contrasting styles, Borralho's precise southpaw striking against Du Plessis's high-volume switch-stance attack, represent a compelling potential matchup should negotiations ever begin
