Matheus Nicolau thrice put Louis Smolka on the mat in the first frame. Smolka refused to capitulate and forced Nicolau to use his jiu-jitsu to close out the fight.

Even on the mat, though, Nicolau (13-1-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) almost managed to finish Smolka (11-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) and picked up a unanimous decision by a wide margin.

The flyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 219 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FS1 following an additional prelim on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

The final scores were 30-26 twice and 30-25, a reflection of Nicolau’s control of Smolka over 15 minutes.

Both men came into the bout looking for redemption. Smolka had lost his past three bouts, while Nicolau had spent one year one the bench due to a USADA suspension he claimed was the result of a tainted supplement.

Smolka came out aggressive early on and paid the price for his straightforward movement, repeatedly walking into Nicolau’s left hook. Smolka lolled to the mat and appeared to be close to a finish, particularly with an arm triangle Nicolau applied after his third knockdown. But Smolka rolled free and survived.

Nicolau moved to the body in the second frame, hoping to take the steam out of Smolka’s advance while absorbing a series of kicks to the body. Sensing a slowdown from his opponent, Smolka turned up his pace, and also remembered to keep his right hand up. No more knockdowns would come, though he didn’t leave the frame scot-free.

Undeterred by his deep deficit on points, Smolka charged forward in one last ditch to swing momentum his way. Nicolau denied him the satisfaction by taking the fight to the mat, cinching another arm triangle that nearly finished the job.

“I was happy with my performance and I knew I had the ability to outwork him, but I really wanted the finish and he was incredibly tough,” Nicolau said. “Even when he was out of the fight, he never stopped throwing or trying for submissions. I think this win puts me up with the best guys in the division. I am going to go home and celebrate with my friends and family, but I will be thinking about the next move for me. I want someone in the top 10 next. I will continue to climb to the top.”

Still in the win column despite his out-of-cage setback, Nicolau extends his current UFC streak to three, while Smolka has dropped four consecutive bouts.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 219 results include:

• Matheus Nicolau def. Louis Smolka via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)
• Tim Elliott def. Mark Delarosa via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 2, 1:41

For complete coverage of UFC 219, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)

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