KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The UFC’s flyweight division consistently produces some of the most exciting fights in the sport, which is why Matheus Nicolau is disappointed that his potential title eliminator bout at UFC on ESPN 44 landed on the prelims.
A winner of six straight, Nicolau (19-3-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) takes on Brandon Royval in an important fight for the division between two top five competitors, according to the promotion’s flyweight rankings. With champion Brandon Moreno now set to take on Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290, the winner of the flyweight bout between Nicolau and Royval (14-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) could be next in line for a title shot.
“Big fight, big challenge, also a great opportunity and I’m ready,” Nicolau told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “I feel ready. I can’t wait for Saturday night. I trained a lot, everything went perfectly here. No injuries at all. I’m coming from a good fighting streak, so I’m ready to go.”
Although Nicolau is on a much longer winning streak than Royval’s back-to-back wins, his opponent’s recent losses came to the current champ and title challenger. Due to his strength of schedule and back-to-back victories in 2022, Royval is ahead of Nicolau in the rankings.
Numbers next to their names are one thing, but Nicolau is more concerned with dealing with the hyper-aggressiveness of his opponent, which he believes will leave some opportunities to capitalize upon.
Nicolau believes fans are in for a treat when the cage door closes at T-Mobile Center, but he admits the placement of their bout on the card put a damper on his excitement.
“I don’t know why they put us on the prelims, but I think there’s a reason,” Nicolau said. “But I was kind of sad, not just because of me and Royval, but because of all of the flyweight division, you know? It’s a big fight for the flyweight division. I think we need more eyes on us, especially that fight. I see that fight being really, really exciting for the fans. But it’s all good, man. My focus here is to win that challenge, and that’s what I’m going to do. Doesn’t matter if it’s the first fight of the night or the last one, the job is the same.”
Regardless of the placement, Nicolau will be hunting for a finish, and with that, he believes he should be called to face the winner of Moreno and Pantoja later this year.
“Especially if I have a dominant victory and if I can finish the fight before the third round, I think I do deserve the title shot after this fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 44.
