Stewart Nicoll is not just a UFC fighter who faced hardships; he faced imminent death as well. ‘Kakmora’, who has a record of 8-0-0, has had a phenomenal journey at the UFC, but it all started with a dangerous childhood experience that altered his life forever. He was just 6 when he realized that life was a struggle and he needed to be prepared.

He had to be brave from a very young age, especially when some prisoners tried to attack his family. He had to flee to Australia when he was six. Let’s learn about what happened.

Stewart Nicoll faces unfathomable dangers

He was just six when the young boy had to flee the Solomon Islands for the first time in 2000. His country was being shattered by ethnic and political unrest, and the nation’s capital, Honiara, became too deadly for them to stay. His whole family had to flee their home country and come to Australia. “It was just craziness with riots, which happens every few years,” 29-year-old Nicoll said. The fighter, who is debuting at UFC 305, said that people were getting released from captivity and were given firearms as well.

He further described, “People were coming after our family, so we fled. We came to Australia.” The oblivious 6-year-old boy had to run with his mother, Suzanne, and father, Stewart. The flyweight star did go back after everything settled, but it seemed like Australia was his calling.

He described how there was another riot, and the family decided that Australia was safer for them. He had been living in Redcliffe ever since.

This is where his two uncles introduced him to martial arts. One of his uncles was a boxer, and the other was a street fighter, and to them, fighting was a life-or-death situation. He said, “Both of my uncles lived with us in Brisbane, and seeing them both training martial arts and hitting the boxing bag in the backyard, to me, it was cool.” How did he get into the UFC?

Nicoll’s journey into UFC

His first fights were against his brothers on a trampoline in their backyard, but then he saw a video of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. The latter was beating up 7’0” tall Hongman Choi, so Nicoll knew what to pursue from there. He was a tiny kid, and as a defense, he used to throw himself at people with full force. However, with his uncles helping him, he learned how to fight with proper procedure.

His main strength is grappling, and he is coming into the octagon against Jesus Aguilar. He also has an amazing record outside of the UFC, where he defeated Guam’s Scott Eclavea in 2023. On top of that, his wife gave birth to twins during the fight week! He has two wonderful twin children, Quinn and Banx, to go with the couple’s third child, Sonny, 3!

“So more chaos,” he said, grinning, “although it’s getting easier as we go.” On top of that, he is debuting at UFC 305, so a lot is on his plate! Do you think he will win his first UFC fight?