Ray Borg recalls nightmare scenario after rush to secure medicals for UFC 249

Ray Borg had just finished completing his medicals when he found out his UFC 249 bout with Marlon Vera – and the event as a whole — had been called off.

The former UFC flyweight title challenger’s bantamweight fight with Vera was put together on short notice when the card was restructured in early April, with the matchup slated for the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, Calif. on Apr. 18.

The process of getting his medicals done during the COVID-19 pandemic proved difficult for the Albuquerque, N.M. resident. But somehow he managed to see both a doctor and an ophthalmologist despite shelter-in-place orders and then, five minutes after his work was completed, he got the news that the card on Native American land had been shut down.

“The place I normally go to get my eyes dilated, they’re completely closed, and nowhere else wanted to accept new patients, so I had a friend go through hell and back to find me an opthalmologist, and I got my eyes dilated that same day,” he explained. “Then, a couple hours later, I did my physical and I threw my hands up like, ‘Oh yes! I got my medicals done, we’re good to go, I’m in the clear,’ and I (expletive) you not, five minutes later I saw a tweet saying UFC 249 was canceled. So I put my head down, sadder than (expletive), because I was ready to fight, man, ready to get it done and get it going.”

Borg still wants to compete as a flyweight, but after some well-documented issues with making weight in previous fights, he has decided to also accept fights at 135 pounds. And even though he doesn’t yet have a new fight lined up, he said he’s ready and willing to answer the call when the UFC reaches out with his next assignment.

“I might have missed weight and (expletive) like that, but I’ve never turned down a fight (or) turned down an opponent,” he said.