Before he chose his current profession, Matheus Nicolau and his brother ran across an old VHS tape that eventually solidified his career choice.

It contained a 2001 PRIDE fight between Wanderlei Silva and Kazushi Sakuraba – the first of three between the MMA legends.

When it came time to think about his own future, a young Nicolau (13-1-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who continued his undefeated octagon run with a recent and dominant decision victory over flyweight Louis Smolka (11-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) at UFC 219, popped in the tape and watched in awe. It was 98 seconds of pure violence.

“Wanderlei is liking using nasty knees and stuff, like kicking the head on the ground and stuff and everything,” Nicolau recently told MMAjunkie Radio. “And man, that for me was like, ‘I want to do that. I want to do that one day.'”

The 24-year-old Brazilian prospect was also familiar with the famed Gracie clan, who bought Brazil and its version of jiu-jitsu to the world. But with Silva, he saw how grappling and muay Thai could be combined and create a seemingly unstoppable fighting style.

“I started training jiu-jitsu, but since the beginning when I started jiu-jitsu, I had it in my mind, ‘Hey, I want to do MMA. I want to try MMA,'” he said. “Back in the day, it wasn’t even MMA. We called it vale tudo.”

And it was all due to the savage fighting style he saw Silva successfully implement. Sure, he soon learned to appreciate the likes of Georges St-Pierre and longtime training partner/former UFC featherweight titleholder Jose Aldo, but for Nicolau, watching that Silva-Sakuraba tape proved to be a life-changer.

Nicolau, who turned pro as a 17-year-old, was a semifinalist on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4” in 2015. Although he’s registered just one official UFC fight per year from 2015-2017, the win over Smolka gave him some serious momentum heading into 2018.

The goal now? Ranked opponents, preferably non-Brazilian ones since he trains with and knows so many fighters from his home country.

“I want a gringo and a top-ranked guy,” he said. “I can tell you that for sure.”

One possibility? Former title challenger Henry Cejudo (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), who’s No. 3 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings. The Olympic gold-medalist wrestler is coming off back-to-back wins over Wilson Reis and Sergio Pettis.

“I’m ready for whoever,” Nicolau said. “I’ve been training like a champion since I was 17, and I really believe I’m ready for whoever. Let’s see who the UFC has for me, and let’s see if (Cejudo) wants it.

“I’m open. Cejudo would be a huge challenge for my career, and that’s what I’m looking for.”

For complete coverage of UFC 219, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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