Las Vegas — With a decision victory over Fares Ziam on the UFC Vegsa 118 main card, lightweight Tom Nolan improved to 11-1, extended his win streak to five straight, and has set himself up for even bigger things moving forward.
After snapping Ziam’s own six-fight run, Nolan’s only sore spot, if any, was that he couldn’t finish the fight as he’d hoped coming in.
“I did think I was going to either chin him or choke him out in the second. I wasn’t sure which one; I knew I was the better fighter in all realms,” Nolan told media outlets including Cageside Press backstage at the Meta Apex following his victory.
Not getting the finish has left Nolan with something to work on, he added. “I wanted the finish, but we’ll get it next time.”
After losing his UFC debut following a win on the Contender Series in 2023, Nolan has marched through each and every opponent since. “Everything’s just coming together for me at a really good time. I feel like I’m taking a boxing camp approach to my game plans now a little bit, in the sense that I’m trying to revolve around exactly what’s in front of me,” he noted. “All year round I’m trying to get better, but I’m not going to work something that’s not specific for the fight anymore.”
Nolan also pointed out a couple of areas where he’s shored up his game, areas he feels have led to his continued success. “Two things going into this fight that I worked on a large amount, one is my mind. I’ve been working with my mental coach, Eric. Dr. Eric Simmons. Just learning to love the game again.”
Nolan suggested that he wouldn’t care if he lost the fight, so long as he gave it everything he had. “I would have genuinely been proud of myself, and that’s what really matters to me.”
“And the second thing is, cutting weight properly. I’m a perfectionist, and I’ve been coming into these fights too light. I’ve had times where I’ve come into Fight Week on weight, and I’m just like maintaining on weight all week, which is just not good for you, it’s really, really bad for you. Which I thought, in my mind, I was like ‘oh I’m not sweating out as much as everyone, so I’m doing it right.’ But I wasn’t.”
“This time I did a proper sweat-out, and it sucked. It wasn’t fun,” admitted Nolan. “But today I felt awesome. I just felt normal. I didn’t feel all bloated and sore.”
Timing is everything in MMA, but so is trajectory, and Nolan is on the right one. Following the win, the Australian called out longtime lightweight and fan favorite Renato Moicano.
As to why, “I respect him so much. I think he’s awesome,” stated Nolan. “I’ve studied him a lot, I studied his fight against BSD for my last fight.”
Tom Nolan even borrowed some techniques from the Brazilian for his own last bout, and added “I think he’s great. I’ve been watching him since I was a child. There’s nothing but respect. I love that dude, he’s cool. I just think that, like I said, I’m back in love with the game, and I want to challenge myself. I think that dude has a scary striking skillset, a scary grappling skillset, he’s fought everybody. He’s awesome, he’s great. So why not fight someone like that? Why not go out there and prove myself right once again?”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 118 post-fight press conference with Tom Nolan above.