LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 11: Canelo Álvarez (L) and Terence Crawford (R) face off onstage during Netflix’s Canelo vs Crawford press conference at T-Mobile Arena on September 11, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Netflix)

The Fighting Nerds gym took the MMA world by storm in 2024 and was awarded MMA Gym of the Year at the World MMA Awards, following an 11-0 record from their four main fighters: Caio Borralho, Jean Silva, Carlos Prates, and Mauricio Ruffy. Less than a year later, three of the four fighting nerds have experienced UFC losses. Prates lost a competitive battle with Ian Machado Garry, Mauricio Ruffy was dominated and submitted by Benoit Saint Denis at UFC Paris, and Caio Borralho lost to Nassourdine Imavov by decision that same night. 

Despite the setback, I believe Caio Borralho is still a championship-caliber fighter. I am not making excuses for Borralho or detracting from Imavov’s performance. Nonetheless, the circumstances surrounding this fight were highly peculiar. Twenty-one days prior, the middleweight division title fight occurred at UFC 319 in Chicago between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev. The replacement fighter for the event was Caio Borralho. He weighed in for the event, in case any fighter was unable to compete for the belt. Three weeks later, he cut weight again for his own fight at UFC Paris. Two weight cuts in three weeks are not ideal. 

The mental toll of cutting weight is as difficult, if not more so, than the training and fight performance itself. Fighters know how it is as a physically and mentally grueling aspect of the sport, and the former middleweight champion, Sean Strickland, had criticized his friend and training partner, Caio Borralho, for the decision to cut weight twice in three weeks. 

After the fight, Borralho himself acknowledged that he struggled to find his adrenaline and momentum throughout the bout against Imaovov. While he didn’t explicitly attribute it to the weight cut, the fact that it was a number one contender’s fight in the main event of a UFC event, the biggest stage of Borralho’s career, suggests that something was amiss. If he couldn’t find his adrenaline, the weight cut likely had a significant impact on his fight night performance. 

“I need to find my adrenaline back; I need to find not motivation but there was no adrenaline no nothing and I couldn’t pick it up into the fight.” – Caio Borrlaho post-fight interview.

If Borrlaho struggled to train for UFC Paris, as Strickland suggests, and if he genuinely could not get his adrenaline going, he had one heck of a performance considering. Sure, he was 0/5 in takedown attempts and was totally unable to execute his game plan. but given the circumstances and that he was fighting Imavov’s style, not his own, and largely fought with plan B, Borralho fought well. A week later, and upon several rewatches, I can confidently say it was a competitive fight. Borrlaho landed more significant strikes in rounds 3 & 5 while also being more efficient with a higher connect percentage in those rounds as well. 

UFC commentators Michael Bisping and Paul Feller seemed surprised at the striking numbers while calling the fight and how close it was. The fantastic Paris crowd played a role in the perception of the fight, which was not the dominating 50-45, 49-46, 49-46 scoring that the judges scored that night. I confidently believe it was a competitive 48-47 for Imavov. 

There’s no controversy or robbery here. The right man won the fight. Imavov was clearly better in rounds 1, 2, and 4. My focus is on Caio Borrlaho, who did not give his best performance on Saturday, but the deserves credit for delivering an incredibly gutsy performance. He wasn’t in control, he was fighting to his opponent’s strengths, he wasn’t adequately prepared due to two weight cuts, and he wasn’t physically right in the octagon as well. However, he still competed, and he competed well.  A Caio Borrlaho, who was a longer, healthier camp, is a dangerous fighter in the middleweight division and a legitimate middleweight contender. Despite the loss, Borrlaho showed he can compete with the division’s best when he isn’t at his best. He still has an extremely bright future in the UFC and is a potential star that MMA fans and media alike can look forward to seeing more of.