The UFC has added another great fight to the already stacked fight night on November 21 in Al Rayyan, Qatar. In the lightweight division, Nikolas Motta returns for the first time this year. He takes on Dom Mar Fan in the ABHA Arena at UFC Qatar.
Multiple sources have confirmed the booking to Heavy.com. Both fighters are looking to bounce back from their most recent performance. Motta lost in one of the greatest fights of 2025 against Nazim Sadykhov, while Mar Fan dropped his UFC debut against Kody Steele earlier this year.
Never In A Boring Fight
Nikolas Motta is a 33-year-old Brazilian fighter who started his professional MMA career in 2012. Motta fought the majority of his early fights in the Shooto Brasil promotion. After going 8-2 in Brazil, he decided to move to the United States in the hope of getting a chance to fight for the UFC. After winning the CFFC title in 2019, Motta got invited to fight on the Contender Series in 2020. The Brazilian fighter beat Joseph Lowry by unanimous decision and was awarded a deal with the UFC. Motta struggled early on in his UFC career, only winning one of his first four fights.
Because the fourth fight on his deal ended in a no contest, Motta got another chance from the UFC in 2024 to take on the then-undefeated and highly touted prospect Tom Nolan. Motta came in as the underdog but beat Nolan by first-round knockout. The Brazilian fighter went on to also beat Maheshate and fought last year against Nazim Sadykhov in Baku. In one of the best fights of the year, Motta lost via knockout in the second round. Both fighters earned both the ‘Performance and Fight of the Night’ bonuses. Motta now returns in the Octagon and takes on Dom Mar Fan.
Road To UFC
Mar Fan fought for three years as an amateur before he made the step to the professionals in 2021. The Australian fighter fought all of his fights for the Eternal MMA promotion in Australia before signing with the UFC. Mar Fan put a record of 6-2 together for Eternal MMA, only losing twice to current UFC lightweight contender Quillan Salkilld. After losing to Salkilld for the title, he won two more fights before entering the Road to UFC tournament in 2025. Mar Fan beat both Yuji Ephoeviga and Jae Hyun Park via unanimous decision.
Those wins booked him a fight against Sang Uk Kim for the finale of the Road to UFC tournament. Mar Fan won after three rounds via unanimous decision, which earned him a UFC contract earlier this year. Four months after winning the finale, he made his official UFC debut against Kody Steele. He lost in the first round by heel hook submission. Mar Fan now takes on Motta in his sophomore fight in the UFC and looks for his first victory inside the Octagon.
UFC Qatar
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Navajo Stirling
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Kevin Vallejos
- Dan Hooker vs. Brian Ortega
- Asu Almabayev vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Jared Cannonier vs. Ikram Aliskerov
- Aleksandre Topuria vs. Santiago Luna
- Shamil Gaziev vs. Tallison Teixeira
- Amir Albazi vs. Alessandro Costa
- Jake Matthews vs. Tahir Abdullayev
- Nikolas Motta vs. Dom Mar Fan
Potential Lightweight Banger Added to UFC Qatar