Matheus Nicolau Pereira is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and a black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu. He is 5’6″ tall.

Born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Nicolau developed his love for MMA by watching old fights on video home system tapes. As a young boy, he loved football but he decided to dedicate himself to martial arts when his father died.

Nicolau started competing in the bantamweight division in 2019 but he moved to flyweight in 2021. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. On August 7, 2010, he made his professional MMA debut at “Pedro Leopoldo Extreme Fight” in Pedro Leopoldo, Brazil where he submitted Pedro Alves Chalita via rear-naked choke.
2. In 2011, he defeated Fernando Silva in Nova Lima, Brazil and Damien Pighiera in Neuchatel, Switzerland while his fight against Larry Passos Vargas in Belo Horizonte ended in a draw.
3. In 2012, he defeated Michael Daboville in Neuchatel, Gilberto Dias in Brasilia, Brazil, Vargas in Belo Horizonte and Denison Silva in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before losing to Pedro Nobre in Rio de Janeiro.
4. On December 20, 2013, he defeated Vanderlei Carvalho Leite via unanmous decision at “Shooto Brazil 45” in Rio de Janeiro.
5. In 2014, he defeated Pedro Arruda in Belo Horizonte and Derinaldo Guerra da Silva in Rio de Janeiro.
6. On November 7, 2015, he made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at “UFC Fight Night 77” in São Paulo, Brazil where he submitted Bruno Mesquita via Japanese necktie.
7. On July 8, 2016, he defeated John Moraga at “The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale” via split decision in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
8. On December 30, 2017, he defeated Louis Smolka via unanimous decision at “UFC 219” in Las Vegas.
9. On April 13, 2018, his girlfriend Luana Pinheiro made her BRAVE Combat Federation debut in Belo Horizonte. On July 28, 2018, he was knocked out by Dustin Ortiz at “UFC on Fox 30” in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
10. On May 24, 2019, he submitted Alan Gabriel via Japanese necktie at “Future FC 5” in São Paulo. On August 30, 2019, he made his BRAVE CF debut at “BRAVE CF 35” in Belo Horizonte where he defeated Felipe Efrain via unanimous decision.
11. In 2020, he went on hiatus amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2021, he returned to the UFC and defeated Manel Kape and Tim Elliott both in Las Vegas.
12. On March 26, 2022, he defeated David Dvořák via unanimous decision at “UFC on ESPN 33” in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
13. He was 29 years old when he defeated Matt Schnell via technical knockout at “UFC on ESPN 42” on December 3, 2022 in Orlando, Florida, USA, which improved his professional MMA record to 18 wins and 2 losses.