Those of us who have followed the career of TriStar’s Mandel Nallo long wondered if he’d ever arrive in the UFC.
Not that he doesn’t have the talent – he very clearly does – but after a run with Bellator, part of which played out during COVID, it seemed like Nallo’s window might be closing. Then, the fighter known as “Rat Garbage” (at least to some, more on that later) arrived on Dana White’s Contender Series last year. A finish, and a UFC contract, followed.
Speaking with Cageside Press in a recent interview, Canada’s Nallo (14-3, 1NC) admitted that while his journey to this point has “been long,” it has also “been a pleasure.”
“I love training under Firas [Zahabi, TriStar head coach], I love getting better every day,” Nallo explained. “I was never dejected, I was never disheartened at any point. I was always, maybe I’m delusional, but I was like ‘something good is going to happen.'”
“I do too much work, I just don’t believe that this amount of hard work in the right way will go unrewarded in some way. So I was always happy to do it. But yeah, it’s been a long one.”
Nallo even being on the Contender Series raised eyebrows, given Dana White has stated he’s not looking for older “contenders.” Earning a contract at age 36, the oldest fighter to do so, was all the more impressive as a result. Going in, Nallo knew he needed more than just a regular performance.
“The only fight I’ve gone into with the mindset that I need something special to happen was the Contender fight. And it wasn’t just so much of my age, it’s just like, that show is not a regular MMA show. You’re not going in there to get show/win, you’re going in there to get a UFC contract,” he stated. “And securing a boring win can be significantly worse for your career than having an entertaining loss. Not to say anybody should go on there and damage themselves in any way, but I’ve seen guys ruin any chance I think they have of signing to the UFC by grinding out a really secure 10-9 every round.”
The way Nallo fights, he added, “I always trusted something cool would happen.”
It did, and Mandel Nallo became the oldest fighter signed to the UFC off the Contender Series. Now, he’s getting a hot start out of the gate against Jai Herbert, who will be entering his 10th UFC fight at UFC Winnipeg.
It’s exactly the sort of match-up he was looking for.
“I think that’s exactly what you want. If you are entering the UFC with the skillset required to climb quickly, you don’t want to fight another random dude with an 0-0 record or 1-0 record, because it’s just so hard, no matter how well you do, for people to understand what that means.”
When you’re fighting an unknown fighter and score a quick knockout, Nallo added, fans can question how good the level of competition truly is. “Whereas fighting a guy with 10 fights, it’s undeniable.”
“I have pretty high aspirations for myself, so there’s no sense in slow playing this. I’m good to go. So we were ecstatic about the match-up,” he added.
You may have noticed a change to Mandel Nallo’s profile among MMA’s record keepers. Long known as “Rat Garbage” (he still uses the handle on Instagram, and his artwork carries a similar theme), recently, he’s become Mandel “Mango” Nallo.
The change was a bit of a surprise, including to Nallo himself.
“It happened without me knowing. Somebody messaged me the other day and said ‘hey you’re Mango now.’ I’m like ‘oh, I guess I am.’ I might be, I don’t know. I have no idea,” revealed Nallo. “It’s what my friends call me in the gym, but I’ve never been upset about ‘Rat Garbage’ as a nickname. You don’t get to choose, and people seem to enjoy it, but I know some people really dislike it for me. Like I have friends that are like ‘you cannot, you can’t be associated with garbage or rats or both.’ So maybe one of them.”
Nallo isn’t sweating it either way. “I have no say, so whoever changed it, do what you want, change it back, I don’t care. Call me what you want.”
Whatever you want to call him, Mandel Nallo makes his UFC debut against Jai Herbert at UFC Winnipeg on April 18, 2026.
