The Fighting Nerds were MMA Junkie’s 2024 Gym of the Year. As 2025 comes to a close, however, the team is in its worst moment yet.

It was a September to forget for the Brazil-based team, with Caio Borralho and Mauricio Ruffy suffering key losses at UFC Fight Night 258 in Paris, just seven days prior to Jean Silva being finished by Diego Lopes at UFC Fight Night 259 this past Saturday.

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After the string of defeats from Ruffy (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), Borralho (17-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and Silva (16-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC), the public sentiment has seemingly turned against The Fighting Nerds.

UFC analyst and veteran welterweight Michael Chiesa thinks that’s unfair.

“Everybody online that’s saying, ‘Oh, The Fighting Nerds are done.’ Shut up,” Chiesa told MMA Junkie. “That’s still one of the best teams in the world. This is what happens when you pit the best against the best. Some of those fights were really close. Caio Borralho vs. Nassourdine Imavov, that was a close fight. Carlos Prates has rebounded. I hate the people that just – the recency bias of everybody saying they’re the best in the world to kind of sh*tting on them. Do away with that.”

Every high level team in MMA goes through its peaks and valleys in the sport. The failures will be examined and adjustments will be made if things are running properly, Chiesa said, and from his outside perspective, there is a big missing piece.

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“If I was to give one bit of a critique if I was The Fighting Nerds: Put more emphasis on wrestling,” Chiesa said. “You guys should bring in an American wrestler, bring in somebody from the Eastern Bloc to kind of help you guys fill that gap, because they do everything else perfect. That’s just been the little chink in the armour so to say, is the wrestling. If they can figure that out, those guys are going to win a lot of big fights. They’re going to win a lot of big fights regardless, but yeah, it’s an incredible team.”

“They have something fun, something fresh. They walk around with the glasses and hand them out to people. I love it. But I think that they’re obviously a very smart team, hence the name, and at some point if they can bring in somebody that can fill that void of the high-level wrestling and the high-level grappling and somebody that can put it all together.”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC analyst offers ‘critique’ for The Fighting Nerds after recent skid