With less than 12 hours remaining before they step inside the cage, Caio Borralho and Yousri Belgaroui are giving every indication of delivering fireworks in the final fight on the UFC 334 main card. While the spotlight is on the two title fights—Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit and Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes—the two middleweights are making sure they get their share of attention.

“The graveyard is filled with statistics…I’m (an) underdog, and I love it,” Belgaroui stated at the final press conference, adding, “When I bite, I bite to kill.”

Borralho fired back.

“Oh yeah. Bite my d*ck,” Borralho shouted. “Bite my d*ck, motherf**er.”

Belgaroui, however, was not backing down.

“I’m not g*y, bro,” Belgaroui remarked, adding, “You’re right. That table is g*y. You’ll like d*ck. And that’s the first thing you’ll do when we fight. The first thing you’ll do is put your mouth right there and smell that sh*t cuz you’ll love it.”

The crowd erupted as the two middleweights traded jabs.

The exchange ended with Borralho framing the matchup as an opportunity for both fighters to prove themselves, with the best man winning before a reporter moved to a question for Josh Hokit.

The Borralho-Belgaroui back-and-forth stemmed from a seemingly harmless question. Referring to Belgaroui’s claims that he is the best striker in the middleweight division, a reporter asked Borralho for his take.

The Brazilian said he had faced several fighters who were “great strikers” and managed to beat them. Rating Belgaroui as a “very good striker,” Borralho pointed out that he had already defeated Reinier de Ridder, another Dutchman, earlier this year.

A war on the feet: Caio Borralho and Yousri Belgaroui ready to collide

His opponent wasn’t satisfied and argued that Borralho hadn’t addressed the question properly.

“I already commented,” the Brazilian replied. “I’ve already faced great strikers. I don’t think you’re the best striker of the division. Striking in kickboxing is way different than striking in MMA.

“And Saturday night, I’m going to prove to you that I’m going to make you understand what a striker from a fighting nerd looks like. And you’re gonna see already strike with one of the best strikers in the division, Imavov-Cannonier. He has three knockouts in three different weight divisions, and you only facing bombs.”

Belgaroui countered by pointing out that all three of his UFC fights had ended in stoppage wins. Borralho, in turn, reminded him of the loss he suffered against Marco Tulio in the Dana White Contender Series (DWCS).

“I’m not taking you out, bro,” the Brazilian tried to reason. “With all the respect, I’m counting you as a good fighter that is coming with a great challenge for me. But as always, man, I do my homework, and I take an A+ as a fighting nerd does. And that’s what I’m going to do on Saturday night. I’m going to solve this equation, and I’m going to show you and everyone there are levels to this game.”

The discussion then turned to their difference in their experience, with Borralho reminding Belgaroui of the gap in the number of rounds they had fought.

Borralho had initially been hesitant about the matchup.

“When you look at it at first, emotionally, it’s a fight that makes no sense at all,” he said on his YouTube channel. “He’s a guy who’s outside the rankings, even though he’s coming off a good run of victories: three wins, three knockouts.

“That’s how I saw it at first. I said, ‘What are these guys thinking? What kind of madness is this? Do they want to test me?’ My first reaction was one of surprise and frustration.”

The two traded verbal jabs during face-offs and media appearances throughout fight week. Although this is their first meeting, neither fighter is new to such exchanges with opponents.

Both have displayed different approaches to building rivalries throughout their combat sports careers.

Borralho’s public confrontations have largely involved calling out prominent middleweights and challenging their decisions, with his dispute against Nassourdine Imavov providing a notable example. Although he has expressed interest in facing Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis, those interactions do not necessarily indicate personal animosity.

Belgaroui, meanwhile, has a more extensive history of competitive rivalries from his kickboxing career. His repeated kickboxing matchups against Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya featured genuine tension and verbal exchanges.