Nicolau is the guy that gets left out of the conversation at flyweight, despite the fact that he’s 7-1 across two stints with the promotion, currently 4-0 since returning to the Octagon, and riding a six-fight winning streak overall.
Oh, he’s also stationed at No. 5 in the rankings, as well, and set to face off with No. 4 man Brandon Royval on Saturday evening in Kansas City.
The quiet Brazilian has yet to ascend into the small pack of title challengers at the absolute top of the division, and has been around long enough that he doesn’t generate the same kind of buzz as relative newcomers like Amir Albazi and Manel Kape (who he beat in his return to the UFC) or hyped prospects like Muhammad Mokaev or Tatsuro Taira. He just goes about his business, wins fights, climbs the ranks, and stays under the radar.
What makes Nicolau an ideal name for this series this week is that he might be the best flyweight in the world, and yet there are scores of people that are likely unfamiliar with his handiwork. But the Nova Uniao product has posted four straight Top 15 wins since returning to the UFC fold just over two years ago, is coming off his most emphatic performance to date against Matt Schnell at the end of the year, and is 19-3-1 overall, and he just turned 30 at the start of the year.
I know it sounds blasphemous to some to suggest anyone other than Brandon Moreno is the best flyweight in the world at the moment, but Nicolau has that “undefined ceiling” thing working for him the way Islam Makhachev did when he was carving a path to the top of the lightweight division, and fighters like that always deserve our attention.
Saturday’s clash with Royval should be a coming out party for Nicolau because the fourth-ranked American is a bundle of energy and excitement every time he steps into the Octagon, which means we should be treated to a frenetic fight that sets the winner up for a huge matchup later in the year.
And if Nicolau happens to be the one to emerge victorious, you’re going to hear far more people wondering aloud about whether he’s the best flyweight in the world and want to have that hypothesis tested, so just remember where you heard it first.
