Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder prediction, pick for UFC 326

Mar 7, 2026 - 21:32

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Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder prediction, pick for UFC 326

Caio Borralho and Reinier de Ridder meet in the UFC 326 co-main event Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.

Last event's results: 4-2
UFC main cards, 2026: 17-11

Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder UFC 326 preview

Borralho (17-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) suffered his first setback in the UFC his last time out, losing a unanimous decision against Nassourdine Imavov in his second main event opportunity. Prior to that came his first main event against former title challenger Jared Cannonier, a Fight of the Night, which Borralho won by unanimous decision.

De Ridder (21-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) also looks to rebound from his first UFC loss, which came by retirement TKO against Brendan Allen. The former ONE Championship titleholder won his first four UFC fights, including stoppages of Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland and Bo Nickal.

Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder UFC 326 expert pick, prediction

The co-main event in Las Vegas features a middleweight matchup between Caio Borralho and Reinier de Ridder.

Aside from this being another volatile southpaw vs. southpaw affair, this fight is hard to call for a multitude of reasons.

Although Borrlaho looks like a tough matchup for de Ridder on paper, the truth is we haven't seen a takedown attempted on the Brazilian inside the octagon in almost four years. And despite de Ridder looking awful as a big favorite last time out, the Dutchman was clearly dealing with some extra extracurricular health issues after what was a relentless calendar year for him.

Say what you will about the de Ridder's porous defense and somewhat sloppy striking, the 35-year-old is a deceptively effective fighter who gives the judges a decent amount to grade. Whereas Borralho, though technically superior, can sometimes be victim to paralysis by analysis, often lacking the extra gears as contests wear on.

I believe this is another fight where it's dog or pass from a betting perspective, but I'll reluctantly take Borralho to edge out a narrow decision as my official pick.