Ray Borg has made his first public statement since his UFC release.

Last week, the UFC dropped Borg (13-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC), a former flyweight title challenger, after his second straight fight-week withdrawal.

Borg was removed from his bantamweight bout against Nathan Maness at UFC on ESPN+ 31 on the day of the weigh-ins. Reasons for that move were not disclosed by the UFC, but it was the second straight event that Borg missed. At UFC on ESPN 10 in June, Borg was supposed to fight Merab Dvalishvili. But two days before the event, Borg left Las Vegas and returned home for personal reasons.

Friday, the New Mexico native made an impassioned Instagram post in which he expressed both regret and thanks for his UFC tenure, and vowed he’d be back.

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I guess it’s time to break some silence. 6 wild years with the UFC, I have experienced some highs and lows during this time. Sean Shelby, Mick Maynard and Dana white have actually treated me insanely good and have given me so many chances to get my shit together and i failed to do so. Over the last 2 1/2 years my wife and I have gone threw so much, so much that most people couldn’t even understand how we get through the day. From our first born child being at risk everyday for brain surgery, to having to gain custody of a very troubled 8 year old little girl. Unfortunately I have let all these struggles effect me during some of the most important times in my career. I am gutted to part ways with the ufc but I am also grateful for all the cool experiences I have taken part of over the years. I have some physiological shit I need to figure out before I know what my next move is, so this is not a goodbye post but rather a temporary pause until I can come back better. Just want to thank my team for standing with me threw all this and having my back, also want to thank my manger Ali for always having my back, no matter how hard it has been he has always been there for me. I’ll be back.

A post shared by Ray Borg (@tazmexufc) on Aug 14, 2020 at 2:52pm PDT

I guess it’s time to break some silence. 6 wild years with the UFC, I have experienced some highs and lows during this time. Sean Shelby, Mick Maynard and Dana white have actually treated me insanely good and have given me so many chances to get my shit together and i failed to do so. Over the last 2 1/2 years my wife and I have gone threw so much, so much that most people couldn’t even understand how we get through the day. From our first born child being at risk everyday for brain surgery, to having to gain custody of a very troubled 8 year old little girl. Unfortunately I have let all these struggles effect me during some of the most important times in my career. I am gutted to part ways with the ufc but I am also grateful for all the cool experiences I have taken part of over the years. I have some physiological shit I need to figure out before I know what my next move is, so this is not a goodbye post but rather a temporary pause until I can come back better. Just want to thank my team for standing with me threw all this and having my back, also want to thank my manger Ali for always having my back, no matter how hard it has been he has always been there for me. I’ll be back.

Borg’s UFC career was littered with weight misses at both flyweight and bantamweight. He missed the flyweight mark three separate times – but wound up winning all three of those fights.

His life outside the cage has received considerable attention. His son, both in 2018, suffers from hydrocephalus, a brain condition. That has led Borg on multiple occasions to put his family’s best interests ahead of his fighting interests.