Tom Nolan draws inspiration from Volkanovski's title defence ahead of UFC Vegas 123 main event debut

Tom Nolan steps into his first UFC main event at UFC Vegas 123 on Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, facing veteran Renato Moicano just seven days after fellow Australian Alexander Volkanovski delivered a dominant second-round TKO title defence over the previously undefeated Movsar Evloev at UFC 333.

“It’s insane, to be honest,” Nolan told MMA Fighting of Volkanovski’s performance. “He doesn’t give away too much. He keeps things close to the chest, so it’s hard to know what’s going to happen. But when he goes out and does that, it’s honestly just insane, man. It’s an honour to be the next weekend’s main event after him. It’s pretty cool.”

Nolan, 26, arrives on a five-fight winning streak and says the back-to-back Australian headliners represent a shift in the sport’s landscape. “Ten years ago, we barely had an Aussie in the UFC. Now we’ve got two, back-to-back on a weekend. It’s unheard of, you know? It’s crazy.”

The path to this main event was anything but straightforward. Nolan originally accepted a short-notice fight against Moicano at UFC 331 after Brian Ortega withdrew, only for Moicano’s team to request additional preparation time. That delay, Nolan says, ultimately worked in his favour — coinciding with a move back to New Zealand with his partner and setting the stage for a higher-profile slot.

“I think the timing of it is awesome,” Nolan said. “I’ve shown that I’m all in on this, and I want to be the best version of myself. And then two months later, I’m rewarded with a main event against a veteran, someone I’ve watched my whole career. I’d be silly to not take it and run with it.”

Moicano enters the bout in form of his own, having finished Chris Duncan in the second round in the main event of UFC Vegas 115, snapping Duncan’s four-fight win streak. For Nolan, the matchup represents a chance to announce himself against a recognisable name on the biggest stage of his career so far.

“Everyone knows who he is. He’s been around forever. It’s a great opportunity for me — the timing couldn’t be better.”