Borralho vs Belgaroui: #5 Middleweight Meets a 6-Foot-6 Knockout Puncher
Caio Borralho is the ranked man in this one: #5 at middleweight, 18-2, nicknamed "The Natural." Yousri Belgaroui is the bigger man. The Dutch fighter stands 6-foot-6 with a 79-inch reach, giving him 4.5 inches of height and 4 inches of reach over the Brazilian when they meet at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on November 14.
Belgaroui (11-3) makes no secret of what he wants to do. He lands 6.44 significant strikes per minute at 63% accuracy and absorbs just 2.28. Of his significant strikes, 86% come standing, 12% in the clinch and only 2% on the ground. Nine of his 11 wins came by knockout (82%), two by decision and none by submission, and five ended in the first round. In the UFC he has landed 364 of 576 significant strike attempts. His knockdown average is 1.06, while his grappling numbers barely register: 0.27 takedowns and zero submission attempts per 15 minutes.
Borralho works at a slower pace with a wider toolkit. He lands 3.47 significant strikes per minute at 56% accuracy (540 of 958 in the UFC, 79% of them standing). He absorbs 2.61, with 60% striking defense to Belgaroui's 64%. Where he pulls ahead is the grappling: 1.25 takedowns and 0.39 submission attempts per 15 minutes, 13% of his significant strikes landed on the ground, and 76% takedown defense against Belgaroui's 67%. His wins are spread out, with five knockouts, four submissions and nine decisions (half his wins), plus six first-round finishes and a 0.39 knockdown average. His fights average 14:09; Belgaroui's, 11:19.
Borralho is 33 and debuted in the UFC in April 2022. Belgaroui is 34 and made his Octagon debut in October 2025.
The fight hinges on one thing. Can Borralho get past that reach and turn this into a grappling contest, or will Belgaroui keep it at range, where he lands nearly twice as many strikes per minute?
Early prelims begin at 5 p.m. local time, prelims at 7 p.m. and the main card at 9 p.m. Grab your seats: Borralho vs Belgaroui tickets at UFC 334.