The phone rang unexpectedly, which only briefly interrupted the focus of Zachary Borrego, a 26-year-old middleweight fighter laser-focused on the task at hand.
Borrego had some pounds to shed still, and that was his main concern.
As his coach spoke softly to promoter Eric Garcia, who was on the other line, Borrego broke his concentration for a moment. A worry crossed his mind. “My opponent just pulled out?”
It was June 24, two days before Fury FC 65, an event featuring Borrego against his most experienced foe to date, Tommie Britton. All of his work during training camp would be jeopardized if Britton was out. Fingers were crossed.
The phone call ended with a goodbye and Borrego’s coach turning to him. It was a moment of truth that hadn’t existed 90 seconds prior, but a vitally important one to the mission.
“We’re good,” the coach said. “He was just telling me a few things, but we’d really like you to finish in a dominant fashion this next fight.”
Relieved, Borrego internally shrugged. It was back to cutting.
He forgot about the exchange almost immediately. In retrospect, it was a bit strange. The memory only resurfaced in his brain as Borrego left the cage in Houston and was approached by two familiar faces. Moments after his unanimous decision win, he was promptly greeted by Garcia and his manager, Jason House.
UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard had placed an offer on the table. That’s what the phone call was about. It had a contingency that he needed to win. Without even knowing, Borrego had unlocked the door to the UFC Apex and Dana White’s Contender Series. It all made sense now.
The offered opponent was all-time NCAA Division I wrestler Bo Nickal – an even bigger opportunity, though Borrego admits the name didn’t necessarily click at first. Borrego was a bit caught off guard by the spontaneity of the contract opportunity.
“Look, you don’t have to answer it,” House said with a sense of calmness masking urgency. “But the guys need an answer if you want them to lock it in.”
The impulsive answer was yes.
Borrego admits he agreed before he should have. He needed stitches and was a bit banged up from going a full 15 minutes for the first time as a professional. Maybe the fight could be pushed back? Nope. That wasn’t an option. Faced with a conflict, Borrego had a difficult sit-down conversation with himself.
“We tried to push it back a little bit, and we weren’t really getting the date we were anticipating, so I just sat down and was like, ‘Look, a lot of people wait a lot longer to get this opportunity, and this kind of presented itself for me. I might as well take the chance.’ I’m a firm believer that God puts us in the positions that we need to be in,” Borrego recently told MMA Junkie. “I don’t think he would put me in a bad position. Literally like two days after, we made the decision (to follow through).”
Question and answer
“Oh, you’re the guy that’s fighting Bo Nickal?”
Fast forward four weeks, and Borrego was in Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world. That’s where he confirmed the same suspicion for the umpteenth time.
“Yes,” he said.
The oddsmakers think he has almost no chance of winning. Hardcore fans are picking against him. Casual fans don’t even know he exists, only that Nickal is a super prospect who might as well have already punched his ticket to the UFC..
But for Borrego, being counted out just means there’s something potentially bigger to gain. After all, it’s better to get attention by association than no attention at all.
That’s why the Nickal question never angered Borrego. It motivated him instead.
“It’s definitely in my mind,” Borrego said. “When you go from the regional scene that I was on, people in Texas and people in my city and in Houston, my cities that I’ve been fighting, my name has started to gain some momentum like I said. For all of that to be happening and then all of a sudden, you get a shot like this where it’s kind of hidden,if you will, it is kind of motivating. It’s definitely in the back of my mind.”
Nickal, 26, is a three-time Division I All American and the 2019 Hodge Trophy winner, awarded to the nation’s best collegiate wrestler. He’s competed and medaled all over the world at 92kg. After two amateur wins and a violent knockout in his professional debut, Nickal fast-tracked to a UFC opportunity. Besides former NFL standout Greg Hardy, he is the least experienced pro MMA fighter to compete on the series.
Borrego sees the Nickal buzz overshadowing the reputation he worked to achieve. Above all else, he wants to peel back the curtain and show the world he’s not simply a B-side, some warm body the UFC dragged in to turn cold.
The change in the court of public opinion has been a bit of a culture shock for him. The script is flipped. Just days ago he was becoming “the guy.” Now he’s fighting “the guy.”
“It’s kind of weird because the way my career was going, obviously I don’t have the wrestling background, but I was starting to gain a lot of momentum,” Borrego said. “It was starting to get really hard for me to find opponents. Opponents were pulling out left and right. My trajectory as far as the regional scene in Texas was facing the same thing (over and over). This shot came up, and now it’s kind of opposite. I think everything is how you look at it. I think this is a great opportunity. I’m not taking anything away from his wrestling background, but he’s 1-0 as a pro. He only has two amateur fights, and I think there are some things we can capitalize on for this fight.
“… That’s what I want. I think a lot of the focus has been (on him). Obviously, he has a lot of credit and accolades that go with him, but there is another side to this fight.”
The other side to the fight
Borrego grew up in San Antonio, Texas. His father owned a martial arts school, so it’s been in his blood since before he was born. It wasn’t the goal initially; football was. After some time playing Division II for Angelo State University, the jig was up. It was back to MMA.
That’s when the pandemic happened, and things changed. While many across the globe experienced hardships, Borrego was lucky. Unbeknownst to him, circumstances would change his life for the better.
“I hate to say it, but COVID kind of gave me the opportunity to train a little bit more full time. Through that, I made the transition into MMA (full-force),” Borrego said. “… I had alway wanted to try MMA and when I got into it at the age that it was, it was perfect timing. … I kind of always knew my future was in the sport of MMA.”
After a 3-3 amateur career, Borrego turned professional in February. He racked up three wins in four months prior to the call. There are a lot of facets that Borrego can improve upon and he tries to do that everyday whether it’s at his father’s gym, The Dojo Karate Academy in Texas, or Zenith BJJ in Las Vegas.
“I think the way my career is going, I’m kind of getting good everywhere,” Borrego said. “When that opportunity comes, and I’m in the UFC, I think I can immediately make an impact, make my way through the rankings, and hopefully within a year or two be in a top spot.”
