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Friday, Jun 27, 2014

UFC FN 44: Ray Borg Feeling “Way More Comfortable” Heading Into Second UFC Bout, “I Belong at This Level”

Ray Borg (photo via UFC.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

In April, Ray Borg didn’t have much time to sit back and reflect on his pending UFC debut, as the flyweight was tapped to fight Dustin Ortiz, just two weeks after he defeated Nick Urso at Legacy FC 30. Following his memorable, decision loss to Ortiz, however, the 20 year-old Borg has had much more time to prepare for his second UFC bout.

“I feel way more comfortable. I’ve had a great camp,” Borg noted on Full Contact Fighter Radio recently, while discussing his upcoming, UFC FN 44 scrap. “It couldn’t have gone better, and it feels a lot better than my first fight. I don’t have to worry about the UFC jitters. I have the experience of going in there under the big lights.”

“So I know what’s to come and what to expect,” furthered Borg, who had been scheduled to fight Ryan Benoit, but after the latter pulled out due to an injury, Shane Howell was brought in as his replacement. “I feel really good. I feel confident. Fighting Dustin Ortiz, and doing as good as I did, made me realize that I belong at this level, and I’m going to be ready to showcase that.”

Borg was tapped to face Ortiz, after the flyweight was left without an opponent, when Alptekin Ozkillic went down with an injury. Borg lost the fight via split decision, but drew widespread praise for pushing the UFC’s #13th ranked flyweight to his limits.

“I’ve actually got a really big following on social media, but I haven’t done too many interviews, which isn’t always a bad thing,” said Borg, when asked if his bout with Ortiz has led to more media requests and fan attention. “Those will come, I’m not worried about those, those will come in time. I’m just focused on winning fights; that’s the most important thing.”

Borg (photo via Getty Images/ZUFFA)

“But yeah, I’ve definitely got a lot of recognition from people all over the world, who have seen my fight, and given me a lot of respect, and a lot of love, which is always really nice to get,” the Albuquerque fighter added.

What caught the attention of many fans and observers during Borg’s bout with Ortiz, was the impressive wrestling and ground skills he showcased.

“I can actually box and kickbox, I’m not just a grappler, I have some pretty good hands,” said Borg. “Unfortunately against Dustin I was a little nervous, so I had a hard time letting my hands go, but obviously my strength is on the ground…”

“I have some of the best training staff in the world, my wrestling coach Jon Judy, people were very impressed with my wrestling in my fight, and little do people know, the only time I ever wrestled was in junior high,” furthered Borg, who also credited FIT NHB’s head coach Tom Vaughn and striking coach Arlene Sanchez-Vaughn for developing him as a fighter. “I had like a horrible wrestling career, I was like 1 and 25…but Jon Judy is one of the best wrestling coaches, he’s the one who has got my wrestling to where it is.”

UFC Fight Night 44 will be hosted by the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, and will be headlined by a featherweight bout between Jeremy Stephens and Cub Swanson.

 

posted by FCF Staff @ 8:00 am
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