Borg believes ‘weight’ is over; wants respect
Albuquerque fighter makes weight for Wednesday’s bout
In a tweet posted on May 3, Ray Borg made clear his motivation for Wednesday night’s fight against Ricky Simón on a UFC card in Jacksonville, Florida.
“Respect is what I’m coming for May 13th,” he wrote.
Based solely on the Albuquerque fighter’s accomplishments in the cage, one might wonder why respect would be an issue.
Borg, now 26, signed his first UFC contract at age 20. He fought for a UFC title at age 24, taking then-flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson — at the time considered by many the best fighter in the world — into the fifth round. Borg enters Wednesday’s fight on a two-fight win streak, having defeated Gabriel Silva and Rogerio Bonterin by unanimous decision. So, then, what’s the problem? Making weight, that’s what. Four times in 11 UFC fights, Borg has failed to make the prescribed weight. Most recently, for the Bonterin fight at the Santa Ana Star Center on Feb. 15, he weighed in at 128 pounds — three pounds over the flyweight limit.
Wednesday’s fight against Simón will be contested at the bantamweight limit of 135 pounds. But Borg once failed to make weight at bantamweight, as well.
In a prefight interview on Monday in Jacksonville, Borg said he believes focus on his weight issues by fans and news media have overshadowed his accomplishments in the Octagon.
“What people tend to forget is, I’m pretty good at fighting,” he said.”There’s a reason I fought for the (flyweight) belt at 24 years old. (That’s) because I’m pretty damn good at fighting.
“I should have made weight, and you won’t hear me make any excuses on that. But it is what it is. I’m a good fighter, and I plan on mov
ing forward, and the only way to get this whole missed-weight thing over my head is show up, make weight and go out and fight.”
And, yes, Borg (13-4) weighed in successfully on Tuesday at 135.5 pounds, an allowable half-pound over the limit.
Simón (15-3) weighed in at 135. Despite his glossier record, the Washington state fighter has less UFC experience than Borg and enters Wednesday’s fight with consecutive losses to Urijah Faber by first-round TKO and to Rob Font by unanimous decision. Still, Simón said, he likes the matchup. “I think there are similarities in our grappling style,” Simón said, “but I think I have a pretty heavy advantage in the striking and my overall game.
“(Borg is) a high-paced fighter. I’m definitely excited, and I like to be exciting so I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity with all the eyes that are going to be on this event.”
Wednesday’s card, like last Saturday’s and this Saturday’s, all being held at VyStar Memorial Veterans Arena in Jacksonville, will be staged with no fans in attendance in observance of coronavirus precautions.
From the start, as UFC President Dana White moved to stage fights while most of the sports world was on hiatus, Borg wanted to be counted in.
“Scared money don’t make money,” he tweeted upon accepting a fight on a proposed April 18 card at a casino in California.
That card didn’t happen, as White yielded to reservations expressed by Disney, ESPN’s parent company. But Borg’s eagerness likely helped him get Wednesday’s opportunity, jumping ahead of many UFC fighters less than three months after the Bonterin fight at the Star Center.
Without providing details, Borg made it clear that social-distancing concerns did not hinder his preparation.
“I have a lot of resources out there in New Mexico,” he said, “and that really made it a lot easier to be able to go out and get the work that I needed for this fight.”
And easier, it appears, to confidently step onto the scale.