One Remains: Can Jean Silva Keep the Last Undefeated UFC Record for the Fighting Nerds?
Last night proved to be too big a moment for the surging Fighting Nerds. Mauricio Ruffy had no answers for the French “God of War,” Benoit St. Denis’s smothering grappling style. Ruffy was able to reverse position once or twice, but it was clear early on that this fight would be decided on the ground. Constant pressure and ring control from BSD forced Ruffy against the cage wall. Low takedowns and the heavy force of BSD’s body kept Ruffy glued to the canvas until St. Denis was ultimately able to secure a face crank that left the emerging prospect tapping for release. That marked the second loss for the Fighting Nerds, with the first coming from Carlos Prates earlier in the year.
That wasn’t the last loss of the evening for the Fighting Nerds. No, their most veteran and highest-ranked member, Caio Borralho, ended up losing a dominant unanimous decision loss to the number two contender at Middleweight, Nassourdine Imavov. In the time it took Caio to throw one punch, Imavov would throw four in combination. I have personally never seen the fighter look better than he did last night. An argument could be made that Borralho’s less-than-stellar showing was due to his making weight as the backup for the Middleweight title fight less than a month ago. Perhaps the strain on his body had piled too high. There is no way of knowing for sure, but in my opinion, there isn’t a fighter at 185 that would’ve walked through that version of Imavov last night. His punches were never thrown alone. Each one was always accompanied by three or four more behind it. He controlled distance and pace at the highest level. After a performance like this, it seems that the next title challenger is set to be Imavov.
That brings us to the only Fighting Nerd left undefeated in the UFC, Jean Silva. Since his debut in the promotion, Silva has appeared to be the most complete of any of the Nerds: knockout power, slick submissions, and great presence on the mic. An active, well-rounded martial artist with a desire to fight the best is hard to come by, but Silva appears to be just that—his next challenge surfaces at UFC Noche against former title challenger Diego Lopes. Lopes is no slouch. An iron chin and an as well-rounded, if not better-rounded, skillset than Sliva, the former challenger has done everything he can to reach and stay at the top. He gave Alexander Volkanovski one of the toughest challenges of his career when they fought for the title earlier this year. Both Lopes and Silva have a lot on the line with this matchup. Title implications, ranking, and momentum are all on the line. If history repeats itself as it has with the other Fighting Nerds, Jean Silva may be in for a rude awakening. The record has shown that when their team has faced the highest level of opposition, they have been unable to perform. Will that repeat at Noche when he squares off with Lopes?
