UFC lightweight Nikolas Motta earned himself a thunderous knockout victory last month when he put away Tom Nolan at UFC Vegas 84, the first UFC event of 2024.
Motta was the biggest underdog on the card that night, and spoiled a whole lot of betting parlays in the process. Speaking to Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview, Brazil’s Motta (14-5, 1NC) recapped the win.
“It was good, and Tom Nolan, he’s so good. It was great,” Motta told us. “I was calm. I was trying to find the balance of, being in the right balance, not too nervous, not too calm. Trying to stay in the middle. And it was cool, it was just like when I had the Cameron VanCamp knockout.”
That sense of calm is actually what connected the two knockouts. “It was funny, because sometimes when you have a good knockout, sometimes it happens when you’re on adrenaline and sh*t, but something that happened in both those knockouts that is cool is that I was— we can’t say we don’t have adrenaline because you’re in a f*cking UFC fight with so many people watching, but at the same time I was calm. After I finished the fight I was calm and talking with everybody. It was a good performance.”
These days, Motta is calling the U.S. home, though he continues to visit his native Brazil. In particular, he’s made the move to Las Vegas.
“Living in Vegas is great,” said Motta, who was invited to the city in 2017 by Edson Barboza, prior to signing with the UFC. That got him an inside look at the UFC PI, with access to recovery therapy and healthy meals, a bit of added motivation to make it to the big show. Training with Xtreme Couture, Motta noted that “Vegas is my new home now.”
What comes next for Motta could be a spot on a big Pay-Per-View card. While UFC 300 is quickly filling up, there’s also UFC 301 in Brazil.
“That’s a dream, just like when I was supposed to fight my first PPV in Miami, and the accident [injury] happened,” noted Motta. And who knows what might happen if he does get on a Pay-Per-View, and gets some mic time. “Imagine fighting on a PPV card. Maybe after in the interview I say some stupid sh*t and I get famous.”
Think Derrick Lewis and “my balls was hot” and you’ll get the idea.
Watch our full interview with UFC lightweight Nikolas Motta above.
