“I’m never gonna giveup,” Former training partner of Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland uncovers how anime fuels fighter’s dreams

UFC's Caio Borralho draws inspiration from anime series like Naruto as he prepares for his fight against Abus Magomedov.


“I’m never gonna giveup,” Former training partner of Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland uncovers how anime fuels fighter’s dreams

Caio Borralho is a former training partner of Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev (Image via: IMAGO, X/Caio Borralho)


Caio Borralho is scheduled to fight Abus Magomedov in the upcoming UFC Sao Paulo fight night event. The Brazilian fighter has trained with the likes of Sean Strickland, Khamzat Chimaev, and Paulo Costa. Matt Serra and Jim Norton recently interviewed Borralho for UFC Unfiltered, leading up to his bout against Magomedov.

During the interview, the question of fighters being fans of anime came up. Serra asked Borralho who is an anime fan about the reason for fighters being anime fans. This is what Borralho replied to Serra.

I think I think I think it's the message behind that you know that inspires you when you're a little kid, and you're trying to build your dreams inside of you. Like, for example, Naruto. He's a kid who got bullied all his life because he was different due to some accident that he passed. He always believed in himself, always telling people, 'I'm going to be hokage.' Hokage is like the most strongest guy in the village, the one who protects the village. Everybody was making fun of him, saying that he couldn't do it. He passed through a lot of things, always saying, 'I'm gonna be hokage, no matter what. I'm never gonna give up. I'm gonna be hokage.' So when you're a kid, there's something that inspires you, you know? I think it inspired me a lot.
YouTube video

Borralho was very much inspired by the anime and manga series, Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Like the protagonist of the series, Boralho too aspires to be the best. His fight with Magomedov could potentially land him a ranked opponent. Interestingly, Sean Strickland earned the title shot with a victory over Magomedov.

FS Video

Borralho is expected to defeat Magomedov. Even though Magomedov performed well against Strickland in the first round, he quickly gassed out leading to an easy finish for Strickland. Moreover, Borralho is undefeated in the UFC. In his most recent bout, he submitted Michal Oleksiejczuk and earned a performance of the night bonus.

Caio Borralho explains his love for Chemistry in the recent UFC Unfiltered episode

In addition to being an anime nerd, Cai Borralho is also an avid enthusiast of chemistry. His love for chemistry was detailed in his recent appearance on UFC Unfiltered. Borralho will have an advantage over Abus Magomedov in his upcoming fight in Sao Paulo.

Caio Borralho and Khamzat Chimaev
Caio Borralho and Khamzat Chimaev (Image via: X/Caio Borralho)

When Jim Norton asked about Borralho’s love for chemistry, this is what Borralho had to say.

I was kind of a nerd when I was in school, and then when I started to study chemistry, I just fell in love. Like everything was starting to fit, you know? I was like, man, this is a new world. In the first year of high school, I started to study something of chemistry, and from the second year, from the third year, I started to give classes to my friends who were going bad in chemistry, you know? So I was always fascinated about it, you know? About numbers, formulas, chemistry, because everything is chemistry, you know, everything.

Borralho, with a record of 14-1(1), is one of the highly touted prospects in the UFC’s middleweight division. Israel Adesanya had reigned over the division for some time, but he is currently on hiatus. Borralho’s former training partner, Sean Strickland, caused the hiatus by outmaneuvering Adesanya to claim the middleweight title at UFC 293.

In case you missed it!