Australian UFC lightweight Tom Nolan‘s redemption story has now begun. 23 year old Nolan made his highly anticipated UFC debut on the first UFC card of 2024. That night Nolan faced Brazilian heavy hitter Nikolas Motta in what many thought would be Nolan’s grand arrival into the UFC. Unfortunately for Nolan he would fall short that night succumbing to a TKO by Motta in the first round suffering the first loss of his professional MMA career.

Tom Nolan vs. Victor Martinez set for May 18.

Some of the greatest fighters to have ever lived suffered losses early on in their career. Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Quinton Jackson and Fabricio Werdum are just a few MMA legends that kick started their UFC careers with loss. In my opinion the man known as ‘The Big Train’ will be no different.

Speaking with Nolan via Instagram after the announcement of his second UFC outing, Nolan simply wrote:

“Time for redemption”

Tom Nolan vs. Victor Martinez set for May 18
Image: Getty Images

Indeed May 18 will be a day of redemption for Nolan. A young hungry lion like Nolan will have learnt more from the initial loss than he could imagined. UFC jitters are now out of the way and it is time for Tom Nolan to stake his claim as the future of the UFC’s lightweight division.

A full, in-depth exclusive interview with Nolan will be coming in the next week.