“We are the nerds who like to fight. The real point is to inspire people. There’s a message for all the people who have been bullied around the world. Some kids wear glasses but don’t like to because they feel they are ugly. Imagine [what it is like] to see the best fighters in the world kicking the s–t out of people and are proud to wear their glasses?” UFC middleweight star Caio Borralho told ESPN about his team, Fighting Nerds.
At this point, you must be well aware of the storied MMA team based out of Brazil, whose members wear their signature lens-less glasses with tape in the center. The team, which Joe Rogan described as “all killers. Just like a team of like brilliant up-and-coming killers”. Caio Borrahlo, who is well on his way to fighting for the middleweight title soon, founded the team with Pablo Sucupira. Borralho, who used to teach chemistry and math, met Scupuria back in 2014. Back then, ‘The Natural’ was a grappler and wanted to work on his striking. Scupuria, too, was not involved in MMA. The Fighting Nerds’ head coach was a Muay Thai competitor and a boxing instructor.
But their 2014 meeting changed that. They knew they had something special between the two of them and wanted to keep working like that. And voila, just like that, the Fighting Nerds MMA team was born. Scupuria and Borralho literally built the gym, officially known as Combat Club São Paulo, with their own hands.
“I painted the walls. We built a big ring. We put a big Octagon, the same size as the UFC Octagon. We built that inside the gym. We actually built that together,” ‘The Natural’ would recall in an interview with ‘MMA Junkie’.
MMA: UFC 301 – Craig vs Borralho May 4, 2024 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BRAZIL Paul Craig red gloves fights Caio Borralho blue gloves during UFC 301 at Rio Arena. Rio de Janeiro Farmasi Arena RJ BRAZIL, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJasonxSilvax 20240504_gma_db3_0135
Pretty soon, two turned to four and four turned to a dozen. Today, the Fighting Nerds boast the most exciting and dangerous young bucks in the entire MMA world. Borralho, of course, is already in the top ten and looks one or two steps away from a title shot. Mauricio Ruffy, who knocked out King Green with the cleanest wheel kick to the veteran’s head at UFC 313, is knocking down the doors at lightweight, while knockout artist Carlos ‘The Nightmare’ Prates is doing the same at welterweight.
Rounding off the team, of course, is the incredibly entertaining featherweight Jean Silva, who submitted Bryce Mitchell with ease at UFC 314. All killers, as Rogan pointed out. But there is one particular thing that makes this team stand out from the rest and makes them so successful.
How Caio Borralho and the Fighting Nerds use Data Science to dismantle their opponents?
“That whole team, apparently, the Fighting Nerds, I was talking to [UFC play-by-play commentator] Jon Anik about this. He said they have data scientists who work for the team. Data scientists, who analyze techniques and break things down, identify what’s effective and patterns. They find patterns — patterns of opponents, what the person does, when they do it, how they do it… That’s a team of f—-ng savages.” Rogan would tell Joey Diaz on episode #2309 of the JRE podcast.
And indeed, one of the main reasons that the Fighting Nerds team is so successful is because of their brainy approach to fighting. These guys don’t just train hard in the gym. They study their opponents. “There are people here within the Fighting Nerds that map out everything and give it to us. Definitely, those guys are the nerds behind the nerds,” Mauricio Ruffy would tell ESPN.
These ‘nerds behind the nerds’ are a dedicated Analytics team led by Ariel Cyrulin, who told ESPN that he “got here (in the Fighting Nerds team) because of science and coding.” This analytics team watches tape on their fighters’ opponents, analyzes every subtlety of their opponents’ games, finds patterns, and game plans according to it. And the result is self-evident. The Fighting Nerds are dominating the UFC and entertaining fans while they are at it. What do you think about the rise of the Fighting Nerds?
The post Who Are the “Fighting Nerds” in UFC? Meet the Only Data-Driven Team in MMA appeared first on EssentiallySports.