Trey Ogden was two minutes away from a decision victory when he locked up an arm-triangle choke versus Nikolas Motta at UFC Vegas 82. Then referee Mike Beltran prematurely stopped the bout, believing the Brazilian was out. The no-contest was a frustrating ending for both sides, but Motta isn’t interested in a rematch.
Motta, who returns to the cage less than two months later to battle Tom Nolan at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 84, said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast that Ogden is the type of matchup that doesn’t excite him anymore.
“I feel like I didn’t even fight that night,” Motta said. “I didn’t let things go, my performance was bad, and being under pressure on the last fight of my contract — plus, the guy has such a boring style. He doesn’t want to fight, he just tries not to get hit. Sometimes he even runs too. His grappling game was on-point that night. I’ve made some mistakes that I’ve fixed since, so that fight was a great learning experience for me.”
Ogden received the opportunity to speak during the UFC broadcast despite not being a winner, and had more time in front of reporters backstage at the event’s post-fight press conference, which made Motta even angrier.
“I was a bit pissed because he didn’t submit me, I didn’t tap, and they removed me from the octagon and he stayed there for an interview like he submitted me,” Motta said. “At the time I was like, ‘F***, I’ll ask to fight this guy again,’ but then I thought, ‘Nah, I don’t want to fight him again, he’s boring.’ He doesn’t like to fight for real. It’s hard to put on a show against him.
“His fight with Ignacio Bahamondes, he was losing all rounds and still played safe in the third. When I was studying his fights, I was thinking to myself, ‘This guy is so boring.’ Nothing against his skills, he’s a great athlete with great conditioning and looks big for the division, so he must be very disciplined, and he had the perfect strategy to fight me that night.”
Motta admits he feared a UFC release after the no-contest was the final bout of his deal. He’s won only one of his four octagon appearances. In the end, however, the promotion offered him another contract and booked him to face Nolan at the UFC APEX on Jan. 13.
“I controlled what I could,” Motta said. “I fought Saturday and went back on diet on Monday no matter what. If they cut me, I was ready to chase another fight elsewhere. I won’t stop, I won’t quit. I’ve made plans for a worst-case scenario. I was excited to spend Christmas and the holidays with my family in Minas Gerais, but that was my plan, I had to do that, and it was worth it because the UFC gave me another opportunity and a new contract. That’s proof that it’s worth chasing what you want and working hard for it.”
“I was worried because that was my last fight and I couldn’t make any mistake,” he continued. “It took me 10 years to enter the UFC and I couldn’t make mistakes, and that held me back a little bit [in the fight]. I like to listen to podcasts and learn, and I listened to Lyoto [Machida] the other day and he gave the example of when he lost the belt. He was obsessed by the fact he was the champion, and we can’t do that. We have to focus on the action. And I plan on doing that Saturday. God willing, I’ll go back to winning and showing I’m here to stay.”
The Brazilian lightweight said he’s fixed mistakes in camp and will show “a whole new Nikolas Motta” this Saturday. His opponent, Nolan, is 6-0 with four stoppages to his credit, including a knockout over Bogdan Grad at the UFC’s Contender Series this past August.
“[Nolan] is a guy that fights for real, he goes in there for the knockout or the submission, so this is going to be a show,” Motta said. “I plan on using my experience. He’s much younger, 23, and I’m way more experienced than him. I’ve been around for many years and I plan on using that experience — and at the same time be what I always was, aggressive. Sometimes you tend to overthink things as you get older and more experienced.”