Outside Source
Borralho recently opened up about his first encounter with Strickland, with the two meeting after his first appearance on the Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021. Borralho was scheduled to face Xtreme Couture product Aaron Jeffery, a member of Strickland’s team. Borralho remembered a boisterous fighter bellowing from Jeffery’s corner the whole match. Borralho earned a unanimous decision win over Jeffery and publicly called out that cornerman—Strickland—for his antics. Well-known for his brash talk, Strickland owned up and challenged Borralho to a fight in the parking lot. However, “The Natural” brushed Strickland off, declaring he only fights for money.
Shortly thereafter, Strickland invited Borralho to come to Xtreme Couture to train. While Borralho initially thought he would be taught a lesson, Strickland proved surprisingly cordial when the Brazilian visited the gym.
Enemies Quickly Became Friends in Tale as Old as Time
“Sean was there screaming all the time,” Borralho remembered of his first fight in the big leagues during his interview with Helen Yee on Saturday. “And then I won the fight, I came to the public and I said, ‘Who’s the f—ing middleweight that’s screaming like s–t over here. You’re so boring.’ And he said, ‘It’s me, let’s fight in the parking lot.’ And I said, ‘I don’t fight for free, f— you.’ So, we started our relationship like that. And then two days later, he said, ‘Hey man, you wanna come to the gym? Come to the gym, let’s train.’ I think he wanted to kill me over there but I came to the gym, he treated me very well. We came along very good together and here we are.”
Borralho would have to notch another win at DWCS to earn his UFC contract. The Brazilian, a main representative of the burgeoning Fight Nerds team, has since been a regular visitor at Xtreme Couture. Training together quickly turned rivals into a kinship. Strickland and Borralho even mutually turned down an offer to fight one other.
The Brazilian said about his current relationship with Strickland, “We’re good, good friends. Sean’s a very nice guy. People maybe don’t know this side of him. But I know this side of him. He’s an honest guy. And very true. He takes care of his training partners; he takes care of me when I’m here in Vegas at Xtreme. He was always very kind to me, always teaching me something, always talking to me, talking to my family, said congratulations when I had my boy.”
Undefeated in seven UFC outings, Borralho is scheduled to headline UFC Paris in a potential middleweight title eliminator against Nassourdine Imavov on Sept. 6 at the Accor Arena in France. On the other side of the coin, former champ Strickland surrendered his belt to Dricus Du Plessis last year. While he earned another crack at gold by beating Paulo Costa, the championship rematch with Du Plessis did not go his way either.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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