5 Things You Might Not Know About Adam Borics

Never have the stakes been higher for Adam Borics.

The once-beaten Hungarian will challenge Patricio Freire for the undisputed Bellator MMA featherweight championship when they lock up in the Bellator 286 main event on Saturday at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California. Borics enters the cage with the wind of a four-fight winning streak in his sails. He last appeared at Bellator 276, where he took a five-round unanimous decision from Mads Burnell in their March 12 pairing.

As Borics approaches his forthcoming battle with Freire at 145 pounds, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He plays second fiddle as an athlete in his hometown.

Borics was born on July 7, 1993 in Eger, Hungary—a city of some 50,000 people situated 85 miles to the northeast of the capital of Budapest. He shares a hometown with Norbert Madaras, a decorated water polo player who led Hungary to back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008.

2. His start was optimal.

“The Kid” made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 21 in August 2014 and needed just 69 seconds to submit Daniel Hajzer with a leglock under the Premium MMA Liga banner. Borics went on to win his first 14 professional bouts, finishing 11 of them.

3. Carrying the bullseye does not faze him.

Borics laid claim to the Hungarian Fight Championship featherweight title when Benjamin Molnar was disqualified for an illegal slam in the fourth round of their Nov. 15, 2014 encounter. He successfully retained the championship on two subsequent occasions, as he choked Jaroslav Jartim into submission with a first-round triangle on May 9, 2015, then did the same to Molnar in the second round of their Sept. 19, 2015 rematch.

4. He took steps to maximize his potential.

The 29-year-old put down roots at the Kill Cliff Fight Club, formerly Sanford MMA, in Deerfield Beach, Florida, where he has access to world-class training on a daily basis. Among those with whom he has shared the mat: former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman and three-time Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler.

5. Judges have yet to give him the thumbs down.

Borics has gone the distance seven times in his 19-fight career and carries a perfect 7-0 record in those bouts. He skated by twice via split verdict, as he narrowly outpointed Matija Blazicevic at Final Fight Championship 20 in 2015 and edged Mike Hamel on the scorecards at Bellator 243 in 2020.