And in November 2020, that dream came true when he defeated Joseph Lowry to earn a UFC contract. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the 29-year-old hasn’t fought since.
There were chances, with Motta slated to face Damir Hadzovic, Jim Miller and Cameron Van Camp at times last year, but none of those fights panned out. So as Motta went home to Brazil, he did so with an uncertain future until the phone rang.
“I’m not gonna lie,” he said. “I got to a point when my manager called me to offer me a fight, I was like, ‘I don’t care who it is, I’m ready to fight,’ and I would fight anyone. I’ve been waiting for so long and I’ve been working my ass off for so long.”
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Luckily, that call came attached to an opponent Motta had already prepared for in the man with the most fights in UFC history, Miller.
“I was in Brazil, visiting my family for Christmas,” he said. “Every year, I come to Brazil for Christmas to spend some time with my family, but I already had on my mind that I should be getting ready to be able to fight at any time. So I was dieting and training while I was at home. My manager called me and he said Jim Miller’s opponent pulled out of the fight and he needs an opponent. I jumped on the fight, and it was good timing. It was like six weeks’ notice, so it wasn’t bad, and I never stopped training.”
The only question was, would Motta go back to Colorado to train with the Factory X squad, or stay in Brazil and go back to his fighting roots? He chose the latter option and couldn’t be more excited.
