The UFC has booked a match between Caio Boralho and Reinier de Ridder at UFC 326, to be held on March 7, 2026 at T-Cell Area in Las Vegas. The middleweight bout will happen on the identical card, pitting Max Holloway’s BMF title protection in opposition to Charles Oliveira. This information was first introduced by Leo Walker Guimarães.
Caio Boralho takes on Reinier de Ridder in middleweight bout at UFC 326
Bolalho, a Brazilian striker grappler from Combating Nerds, misplaced a call to Nasouruddin Imavov at UFC Paris in September 2025. Dutch submission specialist and former ONE Championship two-division champion De Ridder suffered his first loss within the UFC in October at UFC Vancouver when Brendan Allen compelled him to retire on a stool between the fourth and fifth rounds. Each are coming off prime losses.
Boralho enters the battle ranked eighth in middleweight with an undefeated UFC file up till the Imavov battle. The 32-year-old Brazilian had gained seven straight fights earlier than dealing with Imavov, together with a five-round resolution win over former title challenger Jared Cannonier in August 2024. His balanced method, combining wrestling, grappling, and placing, makes him a constant risk at middleweight. Previous to Imavov’s loss, Boralho was weighing in as a backup fighter for the UFC 319 title battle between Khamzat Chimaev and Drix du Plessis.
De Ridder enters this battle in ninth place with an expert file of 21-3 and a UFC file of 4-1. The 34-year-old Allen’s solely loss within the UFC got here after he had a formidable run within the promotion, together with a cut up resolution win over Robert Whittaker in July. De Ridder’s grappling prowess and submission risk had positioned him as a darkish horse contender, however Allen’s loss uncovered his vulnerability to sustained ground-and-pound and cardio administration over prolonged rounds.
Each fighters are able the place they want a win to regain momentum in a deep middleweight division led by undefeated champion Chimaev. This mix makes aggressive sense, permitting for a probably high-level technical matchup between two grapplers with totally different types whereas providing every fighter an opportunity to climb towards the title image.
