The Fighting Nerds team out of Brazil has been one of the most exciting stables of fighters to really announce their arrival in 2024. With one fighter signing to the UFC several years ago and proving himself to be a top contender in his division, three other stand outs have made huge impacts inside the Octagon after featuring on last year’s season of the Contender Series.
With an overall record of 11-0 with nine finishes in the UFC this year, Henry Cejudo recently ranked the four Fighting Nerds competitors that have put their team on the map. Unsurprisingly, he gave top billing to the squad’s unofficial team captain, Caio Borralho.
Borralho has won seven fights in a row at middleweight to earn himself the #6-ranking with wins over the likes of Jared Cannonier, Paul Craig and Abus Magomedov setting him up for a huge match-up next time out. Cejudo has been particularly impressed with his wrestling and consistency.
“I got to go with Borralho. His takedown entries are no joke. I wasn’t too sure if he was going to get tired but man, he’s special so I think he’s the first one to lead. Other than him being the first one to lead, I’m going to have to go with Jean Silva.”
Since producing an upset on Contender Series, Silva has won three fights in a row this year at both featherweight and lightweight. His latest win over Drew Dober earned him a performance of the night bonus and though Cejudo wants to see him, and the following names, get tested against a high-level wrestler, he’s very impressed with what he has seen thus far.
A fighter that will certainly be in the conversation for breakthrough fighter of the year is Carlos Prates who has finished all four of his opponents this year. A first round knockout against Neil Magny in his first main event at the start of this month saw him enter the welterweight rankings at #13.
“He’s one that I really want to know how good he really is and I do want to see him get tested in that wrestling department. Does Carlos Prates have that threshold of having somebody like a Shavkat or somebody that’s going to wrestle, a Kamaru Usman, someone that’s going to bring that heavy wrestling feel. How is it that he can handle all of that?”
Last but not least is the member of the four who fought the most recently, Mauricio Ruffy. A spectacular debut against Jamie Mullarkey opened his UFC account in style but his performance at UFC 309 where he faced James Llontop wasn’t as impressive after he secured a decision win as a massive favorite coming in.
“He just fought this weekend. Very creative, very dangerous on what he does and I do feel like he is special.”