Caio Borralho breaks his silence following viral footage of Khamzat Chimaev choking him out

A rivalry appears to be developing between Caio Borralho and Khamzat Chimaev in the middleweight division. The status of the current champion is uncertain.

Reports surfaced last week indicating that UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis might be injured, potentially preventing him from defending his title against Khamzat Chimaev.

Following these reports, undefeated middleweight Caio Borralho challenged Chimaev, proposing an interim title bout.

After Borralho`s challenge, Chimaev responded online by sharing a photo of himself submitting the Brazilian, seemingly accepting the possibility of an interim fight.

Caio Borralho responds to viral footage

Borralho, known as `The Natural,` who has previously trained at one of Chimaev`s camps, has now addressed the viral footage showing Chimaev choking him.

In an interview with Submission Radio, Borralho stated, “At the time that I went to Khamzat’s training camp, I have no problem to say that I got beaten up because I was helping him.”

“Khamzat had like 10 sparring partners, all of those guys he never came along with them or became friends with them because they would kill each other in training, Khamzat would hurt them, then they would need to leave.”

Borralho continued, “That was far from a sparring session. That was a video of him drilling positions… He’s just making fun, he knows that we were training, we were filming for the UFC, we were drilling… I didn’t even defend the takedown.”

Borralho claims Du Plessis has broken his shin

The UFC was initially planning a title bout between Du Plessis, nicknamed `Stillknocks,` and Chimaev, especially after Chimaev controversially missed a title opportunity earlier this year.

However, the condition of the South African champion remains unclear, with ongoing rumors suggesting he sustained an injury that will keep him out of action for an extended period.

Borralho shared that he`s heard Du Plessis fractured his shin during low kick practice, potentially sidelining him for more than six months.

Borralho added, “Actually, two people, I don’t know if they’re close to him or to his team, two people messaged me and said, ‘Did you see that DDP got injured, he broke his leg in half?’ People are saying that, I think it’s some shin problem, he was kicking somewhere and broke his shin, I’m not sure, I just heard about it.”