Caio Borralho scores late knockdown to win wild UFC Vegas 96 main event against Jared Cannonier

Caio Borralho dug deep when he needed it most to pick up the biggest win of his career.

The Fighting Nerds standout improved his win streak to 16 fights as he outlasted Jared Cannonier in a five-round war to cap off Saturday’s UFC Vegas 96 fight card at the APEX.

All three judges scored the fight for Borralho, with two giving the surging 185-pounder four of the five rounds. The official scores were 49-45, 49-45, and 48-46.

The fight began with Borralho landing a pair of hard jabs that left some damage on the nose of Cannonier, followed by a nasty eye poke from Borralho. As the action resumed, Cannonier landed a nice left hook, but Borralho delivered a pair of brutal calf kicks that were quite effective. Cannonier was able to have some good moments, but Borralho simply had more of them.

Both men came out quite aggressive in Round 2 as Cannonier put Borralho on the back foot, but the Brazilian continued to have success with the jab. Cannonier landed a heavy right hand that saw Borralho’s face change, followed by a nice combination. The confidence of “Killa Gorilla” grew as the round progressed and took momentum into the third.

Things were a bit more tentative to start the third, but both men landed some shots. The final minute is where things really turned up as Borralho had Cannonier badly hurt after a combination, but the 40-year-old battled through it — and even landed a few good punches — before the horn sounded. As the championship rounds began, Cannonier found early success with some beautifully timed counter punches and combinations. The one-time title challenger had the biggest moments in Round 4, and even busted open a cut below the right eye of Borralho, but it was a very close stanza.

The final round was a battle of attrition, with both fighters feeling the effects of the previous 20 minutes. The fighter who move forwarded continually found success in a back-and-forth battle — that was, until Borralho dropped Cannonier with a brutal shot. The fight looked very close to being stopped, but referee Dan Miragliotta let it play out. Borralho slapped on an arm-triangle choke, but Cannonier was able to survive and make it to the final horn to cap off a great fight.

With the win, “The Natural” moves to 7-0 inside the octagon, and will likely have a single-digit number next to his name when the new UFC middleweight rankings come out on Monday. Following the victory, Borralho called for middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis, although he will likely have a bit more work to do before he gets that opportunity.

Cannonier has now dropped two straight, including a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Louisville in June.