This should be an excellent clash between promising middleweights.
It took Borralho two showings on the 2021 edition of Dana White’s
Contender Series to earn a contract, but Brazil’s “Natural” easily
proved himself to be a UFC-ready fighter, particularly with his
first win over current Bellator competitor Aaron
Jeffery. Borralho is a stout fighter who has proven able to do
a bit of everything at this point, especially after a complete
performance in his UFC debut in April—a one-sided win over fellow
newcomer Gadzhi
Omargadzhiev. He will look for another win here against
Petrosyan, another 2021 DWCS alum who impressed in his debut
earlier in 2022. Armenia’s Petrosyan is a striker who can bring
both power and volume. His Contender Series win was a sudden bit of
violence, but his UFC debut saw him go toe-to-toe with Gregory
Rodrigues for three rounds and come out the victor on the back
of a high-paced approach. That has kept up a trend for Petrosyan.
While it was his first decision win, he has been able to maintain
his power going into the later rounds dating back to the regional
scene. Petrosyan looks to be the more dangerous finishing threat
and, if given the space the work, has proven himself to throw
enough to keep up a round-winning approach. The main question is
whether or not Borralho can find some success getting to his
wrestling, at least to enough of a level to slow Petrosyan’s pace
down and prevent him from building too much of a lead. This is
essentially a coinflip, and despite Borralho having more options,
the bet is that Petrosyan can keep him at bay enough to hit some
sharp offense and offset any stretches where the Brazilian controls
the fight. The pick is Petrosyan via narrow decision.