Jake Matthews Explains Why He Fought Outside Australia for So Long Prior to UFC 312

Sydney, Australia — Welterweight Jake Matthews returns home at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia this weekend, a homecoming years in the making.

Matthews (20-7) has been with the UFC over a decade, but hasn’t fought at home since 2019, despite the promotion making multiple trips down under. The closest he’d come, prior to a fight with Francisco Prado this Saturday, was a trip to New Zealand in 2020.

“It’s sort of a double-edged sword for me. I can come and watch a UFC for once and enjoy it, and hang out with the fans, and fight overseas and chase the bigger opponents. That’s what I was told when I was younger,” Matthews recalled during the UFC 312 media day on Wednesday. “Many, many years ago when I first got in the UFC, Sean Shelby [matchmaker] said ‘look you’ve had a few fights in Australia now. If you want to chase these bigger name guys, they’re not going to come to you, you have to go to them.’ So I kind of took that advice, and that’s when I started heading overseas, for the last five years.”

“I fought a couple of big name guys, got to the point where one of us was going to get to the top 15. Obviously I dropped the ball a couple of times on that, but I got into the UFC when I was 19. So it’s just one big learning curve, trying to learn on the job.”

Now, Matthews wants to make a renewed effort to break into the top of the welterweight division. “I’m 30, I feel like now’s the time to start pushing and climbing the ranks. it is good to be back in Australia though.”

Joining the UFC as a teenager in 2014 as part of The Ultimate Fighter: Nations, Matthews has grown as both a fighter and human in front of fight fans’ eyes.

“It’s weird because I feel like an old man, in UFC. It’s like dog years. In UFC years, I’m an old man, I’m a vet. But I only just turned 30 last year, really like starting to hit that peak now.”

Watch the full UFC 312 media day appearance by Jake Matthews above.