Nolan relocates permanently to City Kickboxing ahead of UFC Vegas 123 main event against Moicano

Tom Nolan has permanently relocated from Australia to Auckland to join Eugene Bareman’s City Kickboxing gym as he prepares to headline UFC Vegas 123 against Renato “Money” Moicano on 31 October at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. The move marks the biggest fight of the Australian lightweight’s UFC career.

Nolan told MMA Junkie that the decision to move to New Zealand actually preceded the offer to top the card, beginning with a two-week trial at the Auckland facility before he committed to the switch full-time.

“I went over there for two weeks as a trial, and then, yeah, I made the permanent move. I got the call up after that,” Nolan said.

The 31-year-old has been struck by the sheer volume of high-level training partners available at City Kickboxing — a gym that has produced UFC champions including Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski — describing the environment as unlike anything he has experienced in Australia.

“It’s the best camp I’ve ever had by a mile,” Nolan said. “It’s unreal, dude. I’m so stoked that the timing of this worked out to be that it has because it’s the biggest gym in this part of the world for us. There’s multiple coaches, there’s countless UFC fighters. The amount of UFC fighters on the mat at one time is more than members in most gyms in Australia.”

Nolan also highlighted the breadth of coaching perspectives on offer as he gears up for his first UFC main event slot.

“It’s endless. There’s so many people to train with, and there’s so many minds to learn from and different coaches to work with,” he added.

Moicano, a former UFC lightweight title contender, represents a significant step up in opposition for Nolan, making the quality of his preparation at City Kickboxing all the more consequential heading into the Halloween night showdown in Las Vegas.