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Things didn’t go as planned for The Fighting Nerds in Paris. | Getty/UFC
After its four main representatives tallied an impressive 20 wins in 21 fights over the past three years in the UFC, The Fighting Nerds were awarded “Team of the Year” at the recent MMA Oscars.
Last weekend at UFC Paris, however, the team led by Pablo Sucupira suffered two setbacks in the same night: Mauricio Ruffy was submitted in the second round by Benoit St. Denis in the co-main event, and Caio Borralho lost via unanimous decision in the main event to Nassourdine Imavov.
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Faced with the avalanche of criticism in the media, the team responded with an official statement via social media.
“Yesterday, we lost two fair fights. We can only blame our mistakes for that. We’re reaching the highest level of the sport, where any mistake is held accountable,” it read. “May these defeats help us get our feet back on the ground and get us back on our path to the top. In three years in the UFC, we’ve done things in the sport that have touched the imagination of fans. We made them believe we were superheroes. But we’re human. We make mistakes and learn from them; at that, we’re the best in the world. The time has come to show that once again. We will always work to make our fans and Brazil proud. We will make our champions.”
Borralho, who was the first Fighting Nerd to sign with the UFC, released a video acknowledging that Imavov was the better fighter on Saturday.
“I just think Nassourdine was the better man today,” Borralho said. “He was very fast, as I suspected, so he did very well in the fight. I couldn’t attack much. I just think I have to find my adrenaline again. I need to find some of mine, not motivation, but I was out of adrenaline, nothing, and I couldn’t raise it during the fight. Thank you to the Fighting Nerds, all of you, I love you so much, and I’ll be back, the Fighting Nerds will be back. Thank you.”
Borralho also asked for a quick return to action.
“I want to be more active now,” he said. “How about a fight at MSG in November or T-Mobile in December? I’m in! Let’s go!”
Ruffy Alludes to Potential Injury Entering UFC Paris Bout
On Monday night, it was Mauricio Ruffy‘s turn to take to social media to thank his fans for their support.
“I’m here to thank you all for your kindness, for all the messages I’ve received. I’m very focused on the present moment,” he said on his Instagram stories. “There were indeed situations that I won’t mention here so as not to sound like an excuse, but for the first time in my life, I entered the Octagon without control of my body. My body literally didn’t respond to me. I won’t explain what happened, but I will say that I will come back stronger and I’m happy with this learning experience. The internet always acts the same way. When you win, it’s a phenomenon. When you lose, there’s a lot of criticism. It’s all part of the game.
“I’m exactly where I need to be today to become the guy I’ll be tomorrow. I’m happy with the whole process and everything I learned. I’m dedicated to every lesson. Now it’s time to enjoy this time with my family, get through this, get back to training, and soon fight and perform as I normally do. Absolutely nothing has changed. I’m going to become UFC champion. This is my process. I’m going to adjust everything so I never go up there again and feel that feeling of not being able to fight.”
On Saturday, the Brazilian team will face another stern test as Jean Silva, the team’s featherweight representative, will have the chance to enter the division’s Top 5 by fighting in his first main event against fellow Brazilian Diego Lopes in the Noche UFC main event.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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