Caio Borralho fought through some extreme adversity last time out.

The Brazilian middleweight is among those set to make the walk to the UFC Octagon inside Madison Square Garden in New York City next Saturday.

Before heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane defends his title against Josh Hokit in the UFC 334 main event and Kayla Harrison welcomes the legendary Amanda Nunes back, Borralho will fight Yousri Belgaroui in the third fight on the main card.

Having overcome a serious injury that hampered him earlier this year, Borralho is predicting a much-improved performance to make it back-to-back wins.

Who leaves UFC 334 as the heavyweight champion? 👑

Caio Borralho beat Reinier de Ridder with a badly broken rib the UFC did not know about

Borralho seemed to be on a fast track to a UFC middleweight title shot after winning his first seven fights in the promotion. But after beating former championship challenger Jared Cannonier, Borralho lost to Nassourdine Imavov in Paris 14 months ago.

‘The Natural’ bounced back this year by defeating Reinier de Ridder at UFC 326. To have his hand raised in Las Vegas, Borralho had to fight through a severe rib break that ultimately led to emergency surgery after the win.

“I broke my rib two weeks before my fight with De Ridder. I fought with a totally broken rib,” Borralho said during an interview with Stake.

“It was the craziest two weeks of my life. It was a mental war. It was down to myself whether I would make the fight, and thank God I managed to get past these two weeks and fight.

“I went to my doctor (after the fight) and he said we have to wait until it heals. I was waiting for 10 weeks and still had pain, so I went back to the doctor and we had an MRI,” the Stake ambassador continued. “The results showed that it was separated even more after 10 weeks, and we had to have emergency surgery the next day.

“No, (the UFC did not know about the severity of the injury before the fight). Even my family didn’t know. My four coaches and my wider team knew, and my wife. But I didn’t tell my mother or father. Fighting is already a lot of worry for them, so I didn’t want them to worry more than needed, and I fought, and won!”

Recovery from the injury ultimately forced Borralho to withdraw from UFC 330 in August, where he was scheduled to face Joe Pyfer.

His sights are now on stalling the rise of Belgaroui, a former three-time Glory Kickboxing title challenger who is 3-0 inside the Octagon so far.