UFC Baku fighter details grisly injury sustained in epic 'Fight of the Night'

This lightweight needed quite a bit of work done on his jaw after UFC Baku.

(Zuffa LLC)

One half of the Fight of the Night at UFC Baku has more than just post-fight bonuses to show for a brutal night of work.

The UFC made its debut in Azerbaijan in late June with UFC Baku, which saw Khalil Rountree Jr. outclass former light heavyweight titleholder Jamahal Hill in the card’s five-round main event.

There were plenty of other notable results throughout the 12-fight card outside of the headlining bout, and in the aftermath of UFC Baku considerable attention was given to an epic lightweight clash that saw Nazim Sadykhov stop Nikolas Motta with strikes late in the second round.

Nazim Sadykhov and Nikolas Motta fought on the main card of UFC Baku. | (Zuffa LLC)

Nikolas Motta Shares Jaw X-Rays After UFC Baku

Even though Motta came out on the losing end of the fight, both he and Sadykhov were well-rewarded for their incredible display when they were each given $50K for competing in the card’s Fight of the Night and both received an additional $50K for individual Performance of the Night bonuses.

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UFC Baku marked Motta’s first Octagon appearance of 2025. The Brazilian is eager to get back into action, but it looks like he’s going to be sidelined for a while after he told MMA Fighting that he sustained a fractured jaw that required titanium plates to fix.

Motta vs. Sadykhov Surpassed By UFC 317 Banger

A former competitor on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil Season 4, Motta finally punched his ticket to the UFC with a win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020 but had to wait nearly two years before making his UFC debut.

Nikolas Motta of Brazil punches Cameron VanCamp in a lightweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on September 17, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. | (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

“Iron” went 1-2 with one No Contest over his first four UFC bouts before scoring back-to-back wins in 2024. That winning run was halted at UFC Baku, but after only going the distance once across seven UFC appearances Motta has established himself as one of the more entertaining lightweights on the promotion’s roster.

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Azerbaijan’s Sadykhov has also only gone to the scorecards once in five UFC outings, and while he and Motta certainly deserved bonuses at UFC Baku their war was somewhat overshadowed a week later when Brandon Royval and Joshua Van put on a Fight of the Year contender at UFC 317.

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