A day after the biggest fight of his career fell through, Ray Borg has broken his silence.
On Friday, the 24-year-old issued an apologetic statement to Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com regarding his ill-fated title bout opposite flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson at Saturday's UFC 215 in Edmonton, Alberta. Borg was pulled Thursday from the fight that would have headlined the card, the culprit a respiratory infection.
His nutritionist Michelle Ingels maintained the illness was not related to his weight cut shortly after the last-minute development, after which Borg severed ties with her and Perfecting Athletes.
The full statement is as follows:
First, I want to say I'm sorry to the fans and to Demetrious Johnson for being unable to fight. I want to say thank you to Dr. Davidson, the UFC and (USADA's) Jeff Novitzky for looking out for my health and best interests. I also want to add that I am no longer working with Perfecting Athletes and Michelle Ingels, who was not authorized to speak on my behalf.
As his coach Brandon Gibson told Megan Olivi on Friday, Borg and several of his Jackson's MMA teammates had been ailing before he made the trip north of the border, his condition worsening as fight night drew closer. The promotion is currently looking to re-book the matchup, potentially for October's UFC 216, ESPN's Brett Okamoto reported Thursday.
A women's bantamweight title bout between reigning champion Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko now serves as UFC 215's main event at Rogers Place.
In addition to missing weight twice, Borg has now pulled out of four fights due to either illness or injury in his UFC career.
