Ray Borg starting with a fresh slate
“Although my skills translate to high level at 135, obviously they want to see how I do with the weight and the size-difference. It’s a whole new ballgame.”
When fans saw that perennial top 5 flyweight Ray Borg would be making the jump to the 135lbs division, the speculation was that he was worried about the death of the flyweight division. However, in an interview with The Top Turtle MMA Podcast, Borg explained that it had nothing to do with the division and everything to do with his body.
My body isn’t quite the same as what it was when I was 20 years old, Borg explained. It was just getting harder and harder, and more damaging on my health to keep cutting to 125.
But now that Borg doesn’t have to worry about running off to the sauna after every training session, he feels that things are better than ever.
Each weight cut gets a little bit harder, he said of the process. I’m a lot healthier right now. I’m a lot happier.
Although the change in weight seems to be doing wonders for him physically, he does understand that it may not do much for his ranking. Currently sitting at #3 in a thinning UFC flyweight division (with a win over the current #1), Borg understands that the UFC will not necessarily just transfer that number over.
Although my skills translate to high level at 135, obviously they want to see how I do with the weight and the size-difference, he said. It’s a whole new ballgame.
And while that might be a scary thought for some, Borg relishes the opportunity to turn back the clock on his career. With injuries and setbacks all over the place, he likes the idea of a new beginning.
I actually want to look at it as a fresh start, he said. I’m okay with starting back at square one.
As far as dealing with the size of 135ers. Borg isn’t worried. Pointing to fighters like Louis Smolka and Justin Scoggins, he knows he’s handled the big guys before and likely will be able to again.
I fought a couple flyweights who were good sized, he said.
He’ll see his first of the bantamweights this weekend when he squares off with UFC newcomer Casey Kenney in Philadelphia.
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Author Daniel Vreeland is a co-founder of the Top Turtle Podcast, and a brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu at New England Submission Fighting in Amherst, Massachusetts.
