Mauricio Ruffy credits ‘nerd behind the nerds’ for Bobby Green KO win as Fighting Nerds embrace data revolution

Mauricio Ruffy (left, center) and the Fighting Nerds used data science to defeat King Green at UFC 313 last month (right). [Image credit: @ufc, @fightingnerds on Instagram] — Mauricio Ruffy (left, center) and the Fighting Nerds used data science to defeat King Green at UFC 313 last month (right). [Images courtesy: @ufc, @fightingnerds on Instagram]

Mauricio Ruffy and his team, Fighting Nerds, aren't wearing nerdy glasses to the octagon to promote some kind of gimmick. As it turns out, they're legit nerds as they use actual science to devise game plans to win fights.

Case in point, when Mauricio Ruffy knocked out King Green (formerly Bobby Green) back in March, the Fighting Nerds alum apparently employed the help of data analyst Ariel Cyrulin. The Fighting Nerds analytics team, headed by Cyrulin, figured out Green's unusual timing and patterns, using data science and footage.

Ruffy, in a video by ESPN, explained how the knockout came:

"So he [coach] was like, 'Ruffy, stay calm. Read Green's timing on his strikes, and after that, everything will open up for you."

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Once they'd figured out Green's tell, Ruffy and his team of nerds didn't feel any danger anymore. This allowed the Brazilian striker to land one of the most beautiful spinning heel kick knockouts in history.

Check out Mauricio Ruffy and his analytics team talk about it below:

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Mauricio Ruffy's teammate, Jean Silva, spent two months preparing to submit Bryce Mitchell at UFC 314

Mauricio Ruffy's fellow Fighting Nerd, Jean Silva, won big last weekend at UFC 314. The 28-year-old KO artist made a statement by choking out known submission artist Bryce Mitchell inside two rounds. The air-tight ninja choke allowed Silva to enter the UFC featherweight top ten for the first time.

Silva then revealed that he and his team spent two months concocting a game plan to pull off that exact submission:

Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Silva said:

"We actually trained for about 2 months to do this submission exactly like that. We trained this because we needed to have this submission with Bryce Mitchell. I wanted to show that all of my skills are above all of their levels. This is exactly the way I wanted this submission to be."

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With fighters like Ruffy and Silva continually winning with the power of nerd science, we might be looking at a new age of MMA training and preparations. Their team has been quite dominant in their run in the UFC so far, and we won't be surprised if other stables start following their ways.

About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Jigyanshushri Mahanta