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Bantamweight Felipe Colares has his eyes on former flyweight title challenger Ray Borg after his fight at UFC Raleigh.
Bantamweight prospect Felipe Colares has some solid plans for 2020 in the UFC. After scoring his first Octagon win, a split decision against Domingo Pilarte, ‘Cabocao’ is now paired up to take on Montel Jackson at UFC Raleigh, but that’s not all he wishes for this year.
In an interview with Bloody Elbow, Colares explained how he believes he will be able to use his MMA skills to score his second UFC win, betting on doing the opposite of whatever Jackson’s gameplan might be. A strategy Felipe feels like will not only pay off, but show how much of a good martial artist he is.
“I’ve been studying him a lot for the past few months after we closed the deal,” Colares said. “He has a wrestling background, but once he started doing MMA he began to score lots of knockouts. I believe I’ll be able to nullify his game. If he wants to strike with me, I’ll take him down. If he wants to strike, I’ll take him down. I don’t like to have one style when it comes to fighting. I tell people I’m an MMA fighter. So I’ll try to mix it up in this fight. I’ll mix up my takedowns with my boxing and my muai thai. That being said, I do believe I’ll knock him out in the second round.”
Should he score the win in Raleigh, Felipe already has one name he intends to call out immediately afterward, and that is former flyweight title challenger Ray Borg. In Colares’ opinion, the ‘Taxmexican Devil’ is just the kind of fighter that matches up perfectly with himself.
“I think Ray Borg has a very one-dimensional game and he is a name fighter,” Colares said. “I think that would be a great fight after I beat Montel Jackson. I don’t think Borg has a great striking background and I think he’s small for bantamweight. I think he only tries to fight on the ground. I don’t think he has good striking, so I think it’s a good matchup for me. I think it would a very interesting fight to have after I beat Montel.”
In his last outing, Felipe Colares (9-1) defeated Domingo Pilarte via split decision, back in July 2019. The win came after a unanimous decision loss to Geraldo Freitas in Cabocao’s Octagon debut.
Now, the 25-year-old is expected to meet Montel Jackson at UFC Fight Night 166, in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 25. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a heavyweight bout between former champion Junior dos Santos and contender Curtis Blaydes.