5 biggest Fighting Nerds wins in the UFC so far

Few training camps in UFC history have made the kind of immediate impact that the Fighting Nerds team has done. Consisting of a handful of Brazilian talents, these fighters seem to be in a race with one another to get to the top.

Remarkably, at the time of writing, the Fighting Nerds are a combined 19-0 in the UFC, and it's fair to say they've scored some huge victories.

So with Caio Borralho, Mauricio Ruffy, Jean Silva and Carlos Prates all starring in recent events, which of their wins have been the most outstanding? There are plenty to choose from.

Here, then, are the five biggest Fighting Nerds wins in the UFC so far.

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#5. Carlos Prates vs. Li Jingliang - UFC 305

Next weekend's UFC event will see Carlos Prates face Ian Machado Garry in the headliner, with 'The Nightmare' looking to advance towards welterweight title contention.

Widely seen as the best UFC debutant of 2024, it's hard to believe that this time a year ago, Prates was just 1-0 in the promotion.

It didn't take him long to make a major impact, though. In his third visit to the octagon, he dispatched longtime stalwart Li Jingliang in truly violent fashion, cementing himself as a future star.

The story of the fight was simply that 'The Leech' - who had never been knocked out previously - could not handle Prates' punching power.

He was knocked all around the octagon and dropped in the first round, but rather than look to change things up, fought fire with fire. It turned out to be a huge mistake.

Prates absolutely destroyed him in the second round with more huge shots, and finally ended his night by detonating a left hook to the jaw that knocked Li senseless.

The performance was a warning shot to the rest of the UFC's welterweight division that Prates was for real, and he certainly hasn't slowed down since.

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#4. Mauricio Ruffy vs. Bobby 'King' Green - UFC 313

The only member of the Fighting Nerds team not to crack the top 15 of their weight class in the UFC thus far is lightweight Mauricio Ruffy.

However, 'One Shot' was responsible for probably the flashiest finish scored by any member of the team when he dispatched longtime veteran Bobby 'King' Green at UFC 313 earlier this year.

2024 saw Ruffy beat his first two opponents in the promotion with ease, but Green was clearly a step up for him. 'King' had previously fought the likes of Dustin Poirier, Islam Makhachev and Paddy Pimblett.

However, it took Ruffy just two minutes to prove himself as a potential elite-level 155-pounder.

He stunned Green with a heavy right hand in the opening minute, and after finding his range, he landed an incredible spinning wheel kick to the side of the head that dropped 'King' face-first, completely unconscious.

'One Shot' lived up to his nickname entirely as he didn't need to follow the kick up, and while the win didn't elevate him into the top 15, it's probably the best knockout of 2025 thus far.

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#3. Jean Silva vs. Bryce Mitchell - UFC 314

Jean Silva's fight with Bryce Mitchell, which took place at UFC 314 earlier this month, quickly became one of the biggest grudge matches of 2025.

Fighting Nerds representative Silva had called out 'Thug Nasty' following his previous win over Melsik Baghdasaryan, following a Mitchell interview that saw him create serious controversy.

In reality, 'Lord' probably also saw Mitchell as the perfect opponent to launch himself into title contention. If that was his plan, it worked brilliantly.

Despite the best efforts of Mitchell, Silva utterly dismantled him over the space of two rounds. Not only did he beat Mitchell up standing, forcing him on the back foot and constantly hurting him with strikes, but he easily shrugged off his takedowns too.

And when Mitchell finally got desperate and left his neck open, Silva wasted no time in wrapping him up in a tight ninja choke and squeezing him unconscious, leaving him in a heap on the mat.

Considering Mitchell's vaunted ground game - and the fact that Silva was seen as more of a striker - this was a truly eye-opening win. It was absolutely a signal that 'Lord' is more than ready to face top-level foes from here on out.

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#2. Caio Borralho vs. Jared Cannonier - UFC on ESPN 62

The first representative of the Fighting Nerds team to appear in the UFC was Caio Borralho.

'The Natural' made his octagon debut back in 2022 after winning on 'Dana White's Contender Series', and remarkably enough, in his early days, he wasn't renowned for putting on exciting fights.

That's changed as Borralho has climbed the ladder in the middleweight division, though, and he's now become known for his power punching as well as his grappling.

Borralho's best win, though, didn't actually come via stoppage, although it wasn't for the want of trying. He moved into the top 10 of the 185-pound division by putting a beatdown on former title challenger Jared Cannonier last summer.

'The Natural' surprised everyone by outlanding 'The Killa Gorilla' across five rounds, hurting him badly in the third.

It was the final round, though, where Borralho did his best work. He landed a one-two that dropped Cannonier and appeared to have him on the verge of being stopped. Unfortunately, he went for an arm triangle choke rather than continue to strike, and 'The Killa Gorilla' was able to survive.

Borralho has not fought since, but it's likely his next bout will be a title eliminator of some kind. Based on this win, he's got the ability to defeat anyone in the world at 185 pounds.

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#1. Carlos Prates vs. Neil Magny - UFC Fight Night 247

It's arguable that the best win scored by a member of the Fighting Nerds team in the UFC to date was Carlos Prates' knockout of Neil Magny late last year.

Sure, 'The Nightmare' didn't dispatch a top five-ranked foe like Caio Borralho did when he beat Jared Cannonier, but instead, he was able to violently finish a highly-regarded, tough gatekeeper with ease.

'The Haitian Sensation' was largely expected to push Prates harder than any of his other foes had done, based on his years of experience against the world's best welterweights.

Instead, Prates used his power-punching to knock Magny all around the octagon, never letting him get comfortable for a second. Prates hurt the TUF veteran on numerous occasions, but the finish of the bout still took everyone by surprise.

A left hand appeared to have missed its target altogether, but Magny fell to the ground face-first, completely short-circuited. Replays then showed that Prates' punch simply grazed the temple of Magny and somehow, that was enough to switch him off.

It was a truly remarkable finish from 'The Nightmare', and - for now at least - it stands as the banner win for the Fighting Nerds team.