Former UFC title challenger Ray Borg inks multi-fight deal with Bellator
Ray Borg has signed a deal with Bellator MMA.
On Tuesday, the promotion sent out a press release announcing that former UFC title challenger in Borg signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator. He is expected to make his debut later this year at 135lbs with Kyoji Horiguchi rumored to be a potential first opponent for the UFC veteran.
“I am beyond excited and very happy to have signed with Bellator MMA,” Ray Borg said in the press release. “I feel like they have the best 135ers in the world and I am very excited to get in there and mix it up with all of them on one of the very biggest stages in the sport.”
Ray Borg (16-5) has gone 3-0 since his UFC release in 2020 as he beat Jesse Arnett at UAE Warriors and then signed with Eagle FC. In Eagle FC, Borg picked up a decision win over Cody Gibson and a split decision win over Bellator veteran, Ricky Bandejas.
In the UFC, Borg fought in the Octagon 12 times going 7-5 as he was in the UFC from 2014 to 2020, and earned a title shot against Demetrious Johnson in the process. Borg started out his UFC career with a split decision loss to Dustin Ortiz and then rallied off three straight wins before he lost to Justin Scoggins. He then picked up back-to-back decision wins over Louis Smolka and Jussier Formiga to earn a title shot against Johnson where he was submitted in the fifth round.
Following the loss to Johnson in 2017, Borg didn’t fight again until 2019 at bantamweight and lost a decision to Casey Kenney. During that time off, Borg had several fights canceled due to personal issues, which was an issue he dealt with the rest of his UFC tenure – including missing weight which is why he was released. He ended his UFC career with a split decision loss to Ricky Simon on May 13, 2020.
