SÃO PAULO — From the UFC APEX to Madison Square Garden, from only a few dozen in attendance to Donald Trump and Elon Musk sitting cageside, the Fighting Nerds are leaving the MMA in shock with incredible – and dominant – performances inside the octagon.
And they have no plans slowing down.
Caio Borralho, Mauricio Ruffy, Carlos Prates and Jean Silva have a combined record of 18-0 under the UFC banner. At UFC 314, Silva looks to add another win to that list when he faces Bryce Mitchell. Later this month, Prates headlines UFC Kansas City versus Ian Machado Garry. Borralho awaits his next assignment to cement his place as the No. 1 contender at middleweight, and Ruffy is currently taking a quick breather after dismantling King Green with a Knockout of the Year-level finish at UFC 313 this past March.
But who are the men in funny glasses leading that pack?
Pablo Sucupira, team founder and head coach, is a veteran Muay Thai fighter and boxer who grew unhappy with that business. It’s hard to make a living competing as a striker even with success on Brazil’s regional scene in Brazil – and even abroad, sometimes. The platform provided by mixed martial arts organizations, especially the UFC, opened Sucupira’s eyes for a greater project.
He founded Combat Club in Sao Paulo and started coaching fighters. Then everything changed when a young man from Maranhao walked through those doors.
“Caio Borralho came to Sao Paulo in 2014 and from the moment we met and started training together, the team became stronger,” Sucupira said. “We quit boxing and Muay Thai and focused only in MMA. It was a long journey, but we found in MMA our true path.”
Borralho was the first talent from Fighting Nerds to burst into the MMA scene, signed to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021. The team felt the need to add another coach to get him ready for such a task, since Sucupira was the only full-timer and Wagner Mota handled jiu-jitsu training. Ruffy suggested an old-school touch to the group with Flavio Alvaro, a veteran of 60 pro MMA fights.
Alvaro met with Sucupira and shared his approach when it comes to takedowns in MMA, which Sucupira fell in love with. Alvaro was past his 40s, and had gone through a lot in the sport, but asked Sucupira for a salary that was impossible for the team to pay in those early stages.
“Thank you, I’m a big fan, but the team is starting now and we don’t have that money,” Sucupira told Alvaro after the meeting. “What I have here is a great fight concept that I think aligns well with yours, and I think that together we can create something unbeatable.”
They shook hands, and Alvaro drove back home. The very next day, he called back.
“Pablo, I don’t know what you have, if it’s your confidence, but the idea hit,” Alvaro told Sucupira over the phone. “I’m in. I don’t want to get paid anything, I wanna bet on what you’re doing.”
From that day on, Combat Club became Fighting Nerds – and Borralho won twice on DWCS to earn a UFC contract.
“I’m the brain, Mota is the heart, and Flavio are the balls [of Fighting Nerds],” Sucupira said, laughing. “I graduated in marketing and then quit that career when I started fighting. I didn’t like that name, I wanted something that truly represented us, and that’s how Fighting Nerds came to life.”
Alvaro retired as an MMA fighter in 2017, having won 49 of 60 bouts and faced several young men that would one day be in the UFC. He peaked in 2007, going 11-1 and winning four one-night tournaments in a span of six months in a bloody, ultra-violent underground promotion called Rio Heroes.
When you think “nerd,” that’s not exactly the image that pops into your head.
“Not all smart men are necessarily nice,” Alvaro said with a smile. “I like to say I’m a new angle of the Fighting Nerds. I’m a dark nerd, I’m more of a Lex Luthor. If this was a comic book, I’d be a smart villain.”
“I’ve always given all I have in very real and intense ways in this sport,” he continued. “I’ve always liked great challenges, bloody fights, aggressiveness. That doesn’t make me less nerdy or more nerdy than anyone, but puts me in this position. I’ve always seen myself as a smart man, and my intelligence kind of comes from that mean side. Fighting isn’t only about winning, but how can I bring damage, pain and punishment to my opponents. To me, winning isn’t enough. Look at our [UFC] wins, most of them came with bonuses, and bonuses come from violence.”
Not every Fighting Nerd is the same. Take Borralho as an example. The middleweight talent is 7-0 in the UFC, with all but two of those victories coming via decision and Borralho rarely giving rounds away. For Alvaro, that’s dominance.
Silva and Prates deliver violence, a 100 percent knockout rate in the octagon. Ruffy is an artist in the purest form of the word.
“I want to bring the best of them where they’re great at,” Alvaro said. “I don’t try to force my view into what they do. I have to add in a way that make them great the way they are.”
The Fighting Nerds’ UFC success led them to winning many awards as best MMA team of 2024, and Alvaro admits he struggles with that thought.
“I think that for us to really deserve that honor, and so it lasts for many, many years, we need a belt,” Alvaro said. “Many great teams had belts. Greg Jackson, Chute Boxe, AKA, American Top Team, Brazilian Top Team. Like it or not, these teams are a step ahead of us. If you talk about the best football nations in the world, the best are the ones that have won World Cups.
“At the same time, I think Fighting Nerds have become a concept today, and that concept is more important than the wins. Fighting Nerds showed that smarter men can fight and win. Victory crowns the job well done, the mindset, but I think Fighting Nerds is above that. But we want the belt. Caio is closer, Jean Silva is doing great, same with Prates and Ruffy. We can have not only one but four belts in here. That’s what we’re chasing, to have four belts at home.”
Sucupira dreams of the day he wins a UFC title as coach, but that’s not his ultimate goal. After having his first athlete in the company with Borralho, he’s constantly moving the goalposts.
For Sucupira, watching his project blossom feels like a fever dream.
“I embrace this pressure, this responsibility, and I don’t shy away from it,” Sucupira said. “I’m so focused on the process it’s still a bit hard for me to understand the success of Fighting Nerds. I’m so focused on the things we need to conquer and do many important challenges to come that I can’t slow down and appreciate it all. We’re on a much greater mission to go after the UFC belt now. We’re making dreams come true, but I feel in an unfinished process. It’s great, but the discomfort won’t go away.”
