Jared Cannonier: Seeking That Winning Feeling

“These things happen and we move on,” added the thoughtful “Level 40” middleweight. “I just moved on. I’m not gonna sit on that and feel bad for — you said 11 weeks? Imagine carrying that weight around!”

Saturday’s matchup with Borralho does in fact come 11 weeks after his last appearance, making it the quickest turnaround in the perennial middleweight contender’s career.

After being sidelined for just under a year prior to his bout with Imavov following knee surgery, the MMA Lab representative is happy to not be spending an extended stretch on the sidelines, and was excited to accept this opportunity when he received the call to face Borralho just over a month ago.

READ: Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Borralho

“I definitely wanted a quick turnaround; I didn’t want to sit and wait too long,” offered Cannonier, who sits at No. 5 in the middleweight rankings heading into the weekend. “Another six months would have been fine, but I did not want to do that.

“This is the quickest turnaround I’ve ever had. It’s a relatively short notice fight for me. It’s my inaugural short notice, against a hungry, young, up-and-coming guy who wants it bad and who has called me out on a few occasions in the past, and I’m more than happy to meet him in the cage and give him a proper greeting.”

Borralho has been one of the top emerging talents in the division since graduating from Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

The initial member of the Fighting Nerds squad to join the UFC roster, the 31-year-old registered three wins in his rookie year and two more last year during his sophomore campaign to cement his standing as a fighter on the rise on the 185-pound ranks. Earlier this year, Borralho aced his first test against a ranked opponent, knocking out Paul Craig in the second round at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro to advance to 6-0 inside the Octagon and an impressive 16-1 with one no contest overall.

“With all due respect, Jared Cannonier, you’re a scary dude, but I wanna test myself against you,” said the Brazilian following his win over Craig, and now, he gets his wish.

“I do take it as a compliment — him wanting to test himself, one warrior to another,” Cannonier said when asked about Borralho’s respectful challenge and expressed desire to test himself against a more experienced, more accomplished opponent. “I can definitely tip my hat to that; it’s very admirable and I’m all for it.

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“He called me out and we get to go in there and fight now,” continued Cannonier, who quickly sought to clarify his words. “I don’t mean it like, ‘He called me out, so now we’re gonna fight!’ That’s high school s***, bro! We’re too many levels above that

“This is a job and, as a man, I can appreciate the way he approached it.”

Though he appreciates the way Borralho approached things, this is a relatively new position for “Tha Killa Gorilla” to be in.

Cannonier debuted in the middleweight division at UFC 230 following brief stops at heavyweight and light heavyweight, registering a second-round technical knockout win over David Branch in his first foray at 185 pounds. Over the next five years, he was primarily fighting forward, working towards a championship opportunity, before challenging for the title and facing off with fellow contenders Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori in each of his next two outings.

But his clash with Imavov in Louisville was the first time Cannonier fought someone a step or two behind him in the title chase, and now he’s doing so again for the second time on Saturday.

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“It’s nothing at all and the nature of the business,” he said with a smile when asked about the change in direction. “If I was the champ they would be gunning for my head, as well. We can only do what Jared Cannonier does, and all he’s trying to do is get better, be better.”

That constant quest for self-improvement has been a hallmark of his career, and is unquestionably the chief catalyst for all his efforts, both in the gym and in the Octagon, but after years of being stationed in the Top 5 and facing others within reach of the middleweight title, I asked Cannonier if there wasn’t a small piece of him looking to show this latest hopeful that’s gunning for his place in the pecking order that he’s bitten off a little more than he can chew?

“Maybe an inkling of that,” he admitted while making the “little bit” gesture with his thumb and index finger. “But I have to bring myself back down, tell myself that I’m bigger than that; bigger than what anybody may think or assume or whatever.

“Again, I have to turn my attention inwards. It’s all about me — what I’m gonna do, what I’m capable of doing, and how to get better at doing it.”

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And after a disappointing, but informative start to his 2024 campaign, the middleweight stalwart is excited to make this quick turnaround, meet the challenge of a worthy adversary, and get back to experiencing that winning feeling inside the Octagon.

“It’s gonna feel so good to have gone through this last year, go through this whole thing,” acknowledged Cannonier. “It’s gonna be real good to go out there and compete, to perform, to engage in some fisticuffs; do some martial arts at a very high level and ultimately get my hand raised.

“It’s gonna feel real good.”