Ray Borg scrapped nutritionist but cutting weight same way for UFC 216 vs. Demetrious Johnson

Ray Borg was scratched from a UFC flyweight title fight against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 215, because he fell ill. One month later, Borg said the only thing that’s changed about his approach to the event is the lack of a nutritionist on his payroll.

“I never had a problem making weight to begin with,” said Borg, who will face Johnson in a rebooked pay-per-view title fight Oct. 7 at UFC 216 in Las Vegas. “I tried to add on a nutritionist to help me out, because I was getting a little older, and the weight was getting tougher to cut. But I just went back to doing the same (expletive) that got me to the show.”

Even though Borg (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) said he’s never had a problem making weight, the fact is he has twice missed for UFC bouts. But he strongly defended against the idea that he’s ill-suited for the 125-pound division.

“I can’t say for the future, but for right now, it doesn’t make sense (to move up a division),” Borg said. “Because most bantamweights walk around at 155 and above. Me not trying to cut weight and just getting in shape, my body just gets down to 136, 137 easy. And that’s pretty small for a bantamweight, so, yeah, it makes sense for me to stay.”

Borg maintains his withdrawal from UFC 215 had nothing to do with weight-cutting. Rather, he simply fell ill and couldn’t fight.

“Sometimes you can’t put off the inevitable,” Borg said. “Everyone at my camp was sick. My wife was sick. I was just banking on not catching it, but it happened. There’s not a whole lot you can do. I’ve been taking my proper vitamins and taking care of myself.”

In the wake of his removal from UFC 215, Borg cut ties with the nutrition consultants he’d hired for a fight in March against Jussier Formiga. But he said they bore no responsibility for what happened.

“They made my weight-cut in Brazil easy,” Borg said. “They did an amazing job. The reason for parting ways went a lot more in depth than people know, and it’s not something I wish to discuss.”

Moving forward, Borg said he won’t change much about his preparation. But he admits another weight miss would trigger a permanent career change.

“If I’m going to play the what-if game, I would imagine I would have to move up to 135,” he said.

For his part, Johnson doesn’t seem overly worried about the prospect. He said Borg deserves a second chance at the belt and anticipates a fight with the winner of an upcoming bout between Sergio Pettis and Henry Cejudo.

“He got sick,” Johnson said of Borg. “It happens.”

For more on UFC 216, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.