Nikolas Motta
Skill profile
138 MMA anchors Striking, Durability, TD Defense · his tags and claims adjust Accuracy, Striking D · stats alone on Wrestling, Grappling, Control.
Built on 51 minutes of tracked cage time across 7 statted fights — every axis is held down until there is more tape, so read this as a sketch rather than a verdict.
Career rates — the raw numbers behind the chart
Insider info
vs Nazim Sadykhov emphatic UFC Fight Night: Hill vs Rountree Full Card Analysis, Prediction & Breakdown · June 17, 2025
Repeats 'I think he's going to...' five times across speed, power and dynamism, calls him 'a better fighter' outright and 'this much better or more,' with no hedge anywhere on the outcome.
A boxer at heart who still mixes in the occasional kick, carrying real pop behind a tight guard, good foot movement, sharp counters, and a leg kick he uses to set up his power shots. Described as a 'kill or be killed' fighter looking to end things quickly. No grappling heading is graded for him on this board.
vs Maheshate coinflip UFC Fight Night Yan vs Figueiredo Full Card Analysis, Prediction & Breakdown (UFC Macau) · November 20, 2024 · 1 read since
He says he is 'not confident in this whatsoever' and that either man could be dropped or knocked out, calling neither defense good enough for a confident pick, before still naming Maheshate on a thin durability/home-region edge.
A good striker with power who moves well and has real counter-striking, setting up power shots behind his leg kick. He is described as fully committed to a 'kill or be killed' approach: his striking defense is not there and his durability is said to be trending downward.
vs Tom Nolan clear UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs Walker · January 5, 2024 · 2 reads since
names Nolan as the pick, winning by knockout via a named mechanism (knee up the middle); hedge is on finish method only, not on the win itself.
Comes off a disputed no-contest the analyst believes should have been a loss. A good, kill-or-be-killed striker with power, movement and solid counters, but gives up a large size/reach disadvantage against Nolan (5'9", 70.5"). His durability is explicitly said to be fading and his striking defense has slipped from an earlier level, leaving him exposed if he eats shots while closing distance. Picked to be caught and finished.
vs Trey Ogden coinflip UFC Fight Night Allen vs Craig Full Card Breakdown, Prediction, & Analysis (UFC Vegas 82) · November 15, 2023 · 3 reads since
Direct, explicit self-rating of low conviction -- he says he is going with Ogden but admits he isn't as sure as he'd like to be on this one, adding that the card is full of fights this close.
A striker through and through who comes forward with power and a genuinely excellent head kick, but he lives by a kill-or-be-killed style that leaves his own striking defense lax. That trade-off has already cost him: four of his five career losses are by knockout, and the analyst says outright he is not confident in Motta's durability.
vs Manuel Torres clear UFC Fight Night Vettori vs Cannonier Predictions And Full Card Breakdown (UFC Vegas 75) · June 13, 2023 · 4 reads since
States plainly that he's taking Torres because he sees him as the more dangerous fighter; the only qualifier is that he'll personally bet the under-rounds total instead, which is a method/round preference, not a hedge on who wins.
A good striker who counters well and hits very hard, but is a bit sloppy and sometimes overcommits, with striking defense that is not very good. Decent Brazilian jiu-jitsu, mostly used to work back to his feet rather than control or finish. Good takedown defense, which the analyst thinks keeps this fight standing.
vs Cameron VanCamp lean UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Song · September 14, 2022 · 5 reads since
Lean, and the verb is his: he says he will lean VanCamp, with the betting price inside the pick's own run-up -- the selection is framed as backing an underdog, which the bar reads as caution rather than conviction. The pick is against Motta but Motta's route is left wide open in the same passage: he credits him with a real chance of winning this. He also warns viewers off sizing it, saying he would not 'go wild' on it. The support for the pick is hedged on its face -- range and grappling buy VanCamp only 'the slightest bit' more room than his previous outing, which he himself grades no better than okay. Soft closers ('some upside', a stylistically good spot) do not lift it, and the chapter ends on a condition for fading the man he picked rather than on closing the fight.
A normal-sized lightweight at five foot nine -- he is explicit that this is not a small man -- giving up four inches to a genuinely tall opponent, and that gap is the difference he leads with. What he rates is the quality of the striking: crisp, and strung into real combinations, which he says is uncommon in the sport because the fear of a takedown or a clinch pushes fighters into single shots. He calls Motta a good striker outright. The frame is still the problem in his read: he expects Motta to be hit sooner and more often than he can reply, and he gives the mat to the other corner.
Striking trend
Fight history
L Nazim Sadykhov 10-1-1 walk-in KO/TKO · R2 4:17 — UFC Fight Night: Hill vs. Rountree Jr. · June 21, 2025
W Maheshate 2-2 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Figueiredo · November 23, 2024
W Tom Nolan 6-0 walk-in KO/TKO · R1 1:03 — UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2 · January 13, 2024
NC Trey Ogden 1-2 walk-in Overturned · R3 3:11 — UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Craig · November 18, 2023
L Manuel Torres 12-2 walk-in KO/TKO · R1 1:50 — UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier · June 17, 2023
W Cameron VanCamp 0-1 walk-in KO/TKO · R1 3:49 — UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Song · September 17, 2022
L Jim Miller 33-16 walk-in KO/TKO · R2 1:58 — UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Hill · February 19, 2022
Walk-in records count UFC bouts in this database. For the pre-UFC career, see the record breakdown below or the Tapology button up top.
Record breakdown
Wins by method
Losses by method
No contests: 1
Fights by organization
Showing UFC fights only — this fighter's full pre-UFC career hasn't been synced yet. It will fill in as the weekly career backfill reaches them.
Division context
Headshot of Nikolas Motta by UFC · Official UFC athlete photo (copyright UFC; not freely licensed) · Wikimedia Commons · flattened onto dark background, cropped/resized