UFC Paris: Caio Borralho on Einstein, chess, poker and ‘kicking ass’ with the Fighting Nerds

The Fighting Nerds are achieving great success in the UFC, with Borralho’s team-mate Mauricio Ruffy taking on Benoit Saint-Denis in the co-main event in Paris.

Ruffy, like Borralho, has had an unbeaten start to his UFC career, winning his first three fights and knocking out Bobby Green with a spectacular spinning wheel-kick in March.

Carlos Prates, meanwhile, is generating fanfare after knocking out Geoff Neal last month. He faces Britain’s Leon Edwards in November.

Borralho says their success is down to intelligence and strategic planning rather than their physicality.

“I think it’s the most important thing – your fight IQ, your intelligence, your ability to maintain your tactics even under stressful and precarious situations,” said Borralho.

“What people usually see is a physical thing but what people don’t usually see is how the mind is involved in this game, and I think that’s a lot.”

Borralho points to a win over Paul Craig last May, when he waited for the Scotsman to regain his feet rather than engage with him on the ground, of an example when his intelligence gave him the advantage.

“I know that I have good jiu-jitsu to trade with him but I was smart enough to make him stand up and I wanted to knock him out,” said Borralho.

“Not because of ego but because I knew that was the best way to do it. And then I did it.”

A win over Imavov could put Borralho in pole position for a middleweight title shot against Khamzat Chimaev.

Borralho has one eye on championship gold but looking forward, he wants to write his name into the UFC history books.

“I want to be the most intelligent fighter in the history of UFC,” said Borralho.

“When people think about fight IQ, they think about Georges St-Pierre, they think about Jon Jones, and they’re going to think about Caio Borralho. That’s how I want to do it.”