Check out the latest breaking UFC NEWS
Ray Borg is putting a heap of pressure on himself not just for his next fight, but apparently for the rest of his career.
Borg (11-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is coming off an upset loss to Casey Kenney (12-1-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in late March at UFC on ESPN 2 in Philadelphia. The fight was his return to bantamweight after fighting former champion Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title in October 2017.
After nearly 18 months away, time off that included dealing with a major health scare for his son involving brain surgery, as well as his own injury, Borg’s weekend in Philly was anything but pleasant – and it started when he missed the bantamweight limit on the scale the day before the fight.
Borg missed weight twice at flyweight, so his move to bantamweight wasn’t expected to come with weight issues there, too. He said a hospital visit during his weight cut was the culprit. But late Wednesday, Borg vowed to never let that happen again – or he’ll voluntarily pay the ultimate price.
“Since arriving home after last fight I have made some drastic changes to my lifestyle habits,” Borg posted on Instagram. “I use (sic) to be very Careless with my diet and stopped spending time in the gym in between fights, which turned fight camps more into weight cut camps. I have taken my career to a whole new level mentally and have started taking the steps to go from dieting/fight camps to lifestyle. With this lifestyle change I believe that the world will finally see my true talent and potential.
“I also want it to go on record that if I ever miss weight again or miss a fight due to anything other than a serious injury I will leave the sport of mma forever. I’m coming back better than ever.”
Borg won five of six fights after losing his UFC debut in 2014, and that stretch, including a win over Jussier Formiga, is what got him a shot at Johnson for the title.
But the Kenney mishap with the scale gave him three weight misses in his past six fights. The Kenney weight miss was the first time he went on to lose the fight, though. Not only was Kenney making his UFC debut, he was doing it on super short notice. Just eight days prior, Kenney won at LFA 62 to become a two-division champion there.
Now, in the aftermath of that, Borg apparently is hoping a change to how he treats his body in between fights will make enough of a difference that missing weight is a thing of the past. Otherwise, he’ll be looking for another line of work if he holds to his promise.
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN 2, visit the UFC Events section of the site.
News | MMA Junkie
MMA Life