Nikolas Motta shows off fractured jaw X-rays after memorable UFC clash: ‘F*ck that one hurt’

Nikolas Motta had to go under the knife after a war with Nazim Sadykhov this past month at UFC Baku in Azerbaijan. The lightweight duo won $100,000 in bonus each for the best fight of the night, but Motta returned home with a second-round knockout loss and a damaged jaw.

“I think early in round two, I got hit with a cross and felt, ‘F*ck, that one hurt,’” Motta told MMA Fighting. “I felt my tooth kind of moving. I thought it broke my tooth. After the fight we always have to go to the hospital for exams after you lose by TKO or KO, and when they did the exam it showed two fractures on my jaw.”

Motta was scheduled to return to Thailand after the event, the place where he did his camp this time, but instead travelled to Las Vegas to meet with a specialist and check on the injury. Motta said that a dentist explained that a cyst caused by a wisdom tooth made his jaw more fragile, which eventually led to the fracture.

“It sucked, I couldn’t chew anything,” Motta laughed. “So I came to Vegas and had the surgery.”

Photo via Nikolas Motta

Motta is expected to have three other wisdom teeth removed in a couple of months, and then prepare to start a new training camp. The fighter said that the recovery timetable for the jaw surgery is eight week, and the wisdom tooth procedure should require a week off.

“He did the surgery and put a titanium plate to get it back in place,” Motta said. “Funny thing is, Rafael dos Anjos sent me an X-ray of his face and it’s full of titanium plates. He said, ‘Brother, I still became champion after that.’”

The Brazilian lightweight joked he’s like “The Terminator” after the surgery, and celebrates the $100,000 bonus now that he will be forced to sit out for some time.

“My goal was to put on the best performance of my life,” Motta said. “Before I walked out for the fight, I talked to my coach, ‘I’m getting a bonus now. How much do I have to pay you? Do I have to pay a percentage of the bonus?’ And he said, ‘No, you don’t need to.’ My manager was making fun later, ‘Motherf*cker, Motta got me’ [laughs].”

Motta wishes he had left UFC Baku with the win but doubts he would still be paid that much in bonus if that was the case. He was riding a two-fight winning streak going into that match, a knockout over Tom Nolan and a decision against Maheshate Hayisaer, and felt “more free” to put on the type of performance he wanted without feeling that his job was on the line.

“I’m too f*cking competitive, we always want to win,” Motta said. “But there are times where we worry too much about the future and the result and we end up not fighting so well. I think that has helped me get that anxiety away, not being too worried about the result and the future. It kind of made me more free to fight the best way possible.”