Borg (photo via Getty Images/ZUFFA)

By Kelsey Mowatt

Ray Borg knew he would face Justin Scoggins eventually, and in fact, he believed the bout would happen sooner than February 6th. But did the flyweight see this fight happening next? Not initially.

Recently Borg appeared on Full Contact Fighter Radio and during the interview, the New Mexico resident admitted he expected to face Scoggins sooner, since they are both highly touted prospects at 125. But, since Borg has won three straight and is currently ranked #12, many believed the FIT NHB fighter would take on a top ten ranked opponent next.

“The original plan was to go after a top ten guy, and there was even some names being talked about, and it was supposed to happen, but unfortunately the fight fell through,” the 22 year-old said. “It came to a point where I was kind of without an opponent for a while, and it was being pushed back, and pushed back, I was supposed to fight on the 30th. It was still being pushed back.”

“I finally took to this Twitter callout stuff, and I called out Scoggins, because I knew he would be game,” added Borg, who will face Scoggins at UFC Fight Night 82. “I didn’t think he would be the kind of guy to make up excuses. I’ve been through about three opponents who were supposed to be matched-up with me, so I knew he would be game. So I called him out and it happened to work.”

Sizing up the bout on paper, one might conclude that Borg’s clearest path to victory, is to take the dynamic striker down and work his top game. Since Borg arrived in the UFC back in 2014, it’s been his grappling in particular, which has drawn considerable praise.

“It’s going to be a tricky fight,” said Borg. “I can’t say I’m going to stand with him and I can’t say that I’m going to take him down. I think that it’s more about how it’s going to go. Who knows? If he does a good job of defending my takedowns, which people have had a hard time with in the past, then if he does a good job, then we’ll be forced to stand up. Then he’ll have to realize that my ground game isn’t the only thing he should have trained for.”

UFC Fight Night 82 will be hosted by the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.