A pair of top 10 middleweights look to get back on track after recent losses when Reinier de Ridder clashes with Caio Borralho at UFC 326 on March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting following an initial report from Leo Guimaraes on social media.
A former two-division ONE Championship titleholder, de Ridder made an immediate impact after signing with the UFC, scoring four consecutive wins including victories over ex-UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and highly touted prospect Bo Nickal.
It appeared de Ridder was likely one more win away from a title shot but then he ran into a brick wall named Brendan Allen in the main event of UFC Vancouver. The rough outing ended with de Ridder unable to answer the bell after the fourth round and the fight was stopped with Allen earning the TKO victory.
Now the Dutch grappler attempts to get back on track when he returns in March. The same can be said for Borralho, who was on a similar trajectory in his career until a recent loss of his own.
After amassing a 7-0 record in the UFC, Borralho came up short in his bid to enter title contention after he fell to Nassourdine Imavov in September. Borralho has only tasted defeat twice in his career and he’ll attempt to prevent a third when he faces de Ridder.
The middleweights join a growing lineup headed to UFC 326 with “BMF” champion Max Holloway putting his title on the line against Charles Oliveira in the main event.
Guilherme Cruz contributed to this report.
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