Einstein, chess & poker - The 'nerd' 'kicking ass' in the UFC

Borralho is seventh in the UFC middleweight rankings

Caio Borralho has always known he is different to most fighters.

As a teenager, the 32-year-old Brazilian taught mathematics and chemistry because he is "good with numbers".

At his gym in Sao Paulo, a mural of trailblazing scientist Albert Einstein gazes over the main training area.

Einstein is flanked by legendary fighters Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee, Anderson Silva and Minotauro Nogueira - but it is Einstein who is key to Borralho's story.

Borralho is a keen chess player, racking up more than 1,000 games online, and has recently started playing a lot of poker.

If there is a subject, person or game that is grounded in problem-solving, then it usually piques the Brazilian's interest.

"It's because it's about mind games. And it's the way that I see fighting too," Borralho tells BBC Sport.

"How to play with the mind, how to observe, how to read people, how to observe patterns and triggers. I think they are very similar."

Borralho faces French middleweight Nassourdine Imavov in the main event at UFC Paris on Saturday.

During fight week, Borralho and his coaching team will be wearing their signature lens-less black plastic glasses with white tape in the centre.

It is a look that plays into the ethos of their team, the 'Fighting Nerds'.

When Borralho was younger he used to get bullied for his interests, which he describes as "nerdy", so he set up the Fighting Nerds with his coach Pablo Sucupira in response.

"We want to represent love and courage, you know? We want to encourage people to be themselves," said Borralho.

"Imagine a nerd that is suffering bullying and getting picked on. They watch a guy in the UFC that considers himself a nerd and he's kicking ass, so it's definitely a message of encouragement.

"This is definitely something really important to me because I know how hard it is to be on the other side."

Borralho, who has won his first seven fights in the UFC, says the response to his team's branding has been overwhelmingly positive.

"I've had a lot of parents coming to me and saying 'my son hated to wear glasses because everybody was making fun of him and right now, after seeing you guys, nobody makes fun of him and he loves to wear them'," said Borralho.

"This is important to me - it's not about just winning or losing, it's about the message that you pass, that you bring, that you leave for the other generation."

'I want to be the most intelligent fighter in UFC history'

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."