Tom Nolan opens up on rebuilding after unsuccessful UFC debut

Tom
Nolan‘s only professional loss taught him a lot of lessons.

Nolan closed as a betting underdog going into his lightweight clash
against Fares Ziam
at
UFC Fight Night 278 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Nolan outclassed
Ziam on the ground while holding his own on the feet to earn a
unanimous decision win. This was Nolan’s fifth straight victory
after his lone professional loss in his 2024 promotional debut.

Nolan made it to the Ultimate Fighting Championship with the
reputation of a highly touted prospect. In his UFC debut against
Nikolas
Motta, however, Motta derailed Nolan’s hype train by knocking
him out a bit over a minute into the fight. Nolan revealed that he
was inexperienced and doing a lot of things wrong as a 23-year-old.
However, the Aussie doesn’t want to take away from Motta’s
performance. As his stock fell, he rediscovered his love for the
game, slowly building himself back. “Big Train” claims he felt no
fear of losing going into his clash against Ziam. Nolan said in a
post-fight interview:

“No pressure at all,” he remarked. “Not even an ounce of pressure
on me for this one. I went into my debut with super hype,
23-year-old train. And I got caught… I was cutting weight wrong at
that time, I was a bit inexperienced. I was a perfectionist, coming
into fight week on weight, just stupid things like that. I don’t
like to talk about it too much, ’cause I don’t want to take away
from Motta. He caught me, he beat me. People started writing me
off, said I was too young, I wasn’t ready. So, I fell back in love
with the game.”

Nolan continued, “I had to learn again who actually cares about me,
what is actually important. I have got a great team around me, I
have a family, I have a wife… I genuinely, hand over heart, didn’t
care if I lost this fight. I obviously wanted to win, but I didn’t
care if I lost. For me, it was, I wanted to come out and prove to
myself that I wasn’t gonna be afraid of this guy.”

“I’m so proud of myself.”

Tom Nolan is coming into his own and feels like everything is
coming together for him after picking up his fifth win in a row.

#UFCVegas118

Complete Main Card Results ➡️ https://t.co/3BH6JfxG3Zpic.twitter.com/JuF0WTI4YQ— UFC News
(@UFCNews)
June 7, 2026