Nikolas Motta explains why he had so much pressure on him to beat Cameron VanCamp at UFC Vegas 60: “It has been a long journey”

By Cole Shelton - September 22, 2022

Nikolas Motta had a ton of pressure on him heading into his UFC Vegas 60 fight against Cameron VanCamp.

Nikolas Motta

Motta was coming off a KO loss to Jim Miller in his UFC debut and heading into this fight against VanCamp, the Brazilian thought he was fighting for his job.

“I had so much pressure, the night before the fight I woke up at 4 a.m. and I couldn’t fall back asleep because I was thinking about the fight,” Motta said to BJPENN.com. “It has been a long journey, 10 years since I left home by myself to train and just going through hell and back to get here. I’ve worked so hard for years and I knew I might get cut with a loss so I know I had to get the win. I had all this pressure on me.”

With Motta thinking he could be cut with a loss, he says that helped motivate him throughout the camp, and was confident he would get his hand raised.

However, he knew beating VanCamp would pose some problems as he was much smaller than the American. Yet, he overcame the height difference and ended up getting the first-round KO.

“I was really happy because I lost my debut and I had a lot of pressure on myself because I have seen so many guys get cut from the UFC after two losses,” Motta said. “I was fighting for my job and I did good, I won my job.”

With Nikola Motta getting the first-round win at UFC Vegas 60, the hope for the Brazilian is to return in December or January against whoever the UFC gives him.

“I hope I can fight again this year in December or maybe January. In the beginning, I thought about the Rio card in January as it was my dream to fight at home in Brazil,” Motta concluded. “But, I live in Vegas so it is good to fight here because this is my new home… Whoever they give me is fine by me. I just want to fight and make money and I know if I keep fighting the way I fight I will get paid more once my contract is over.”

Who would you like to see Nikolas Motta fight next?


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