Viacheslav Borshchev no longer stressed about UFC hype – so grandma might not get a call

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Highly touted UFC prospect Viacheslav Borshchev may pretty put together based on his first couple top-shelf fights.

But the bantamweight admitted ahead of UFC on ESPN 33 in Columbus, Ohio, that his promotional debut in January came with some unexpected nerves.

“I’ve been fighting my whole life,” Borshchev told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s media day. “As I worked on being in the UFC, I was thinking about that nonstop and dreaming about that. Any hype at the fight wasn’t that hard.

“But right before the fight, my UFC debut, the night before was super tough. The hype came too quick – that was tough. I was a little too confused and shaken – I even called my grandma and said, ‘Hey, I’m scared. What’s going on?’ She’s like, ‘Hey, come on … don’t be scared. Everything will be all right. Just do whatever you do always.’ Now I’m ready. Even if it gets more (hype), I’m ready for it.”

Borshchev punched his UFC ticket with a second-round knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series in October 2021. His official promotional debut in January was a first-round liver shot knockout of Dakota Bush that came with a $50,000 performance bonus.

So it’s pretty safe to say Borshchev got over whatever pre-fight jitters were plaguing him in a hurry, whether it was with the help of grandma’s words of encouragement or not.

At UFC on ESPN 33, Borshchev (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) takes on England’s Marc Diakiese (14-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) to open the main card. And at this point, the Team Alpha Male-based prospect said the hype around him shouldn’t affect him.

“Now it’s much easier to not overthink it,” Borshchev said. “When it happened the first time, I was overthinking everything: All this hype (about me). Should I show everybody it wasn’t an accident why I’m in the UFC? Now I don’t worry about this anymore. This won’t bother me.

“Now I just do my business. I’m a businessman here.”