UFC 305 debutant Stewart Nicoll recently revisited his childhood growing up in the Solomon Islands, which was then embroiled in turmoil.
The Solomon Islands were in political and ethnic chaos in the late 90s, leading to a coup d’état in 2000 and subsequent years of violence involving rape, murder, torture and abductions. While Nicoll’s family was caught right in the middle of it, the undefeated flyweight, who makes his UFC debut this weekend, doesn’t remember much of the trauma. What he vividly remembers is an image of his father sailing away in a dugout canoe from a beachfront in the Solomons, unsure whether he’d return.
“Because my memory, it isn’t that great. I’m forgetting things all the time,” Nicoll told Fox Sports Australia. “But that image of dad leaving? Man, it’s seared onto my brain. As if it happened yesterday. Like maybe I was asleep for the other stuff.”
The reason Nicoll’s father went away was because dangerous men were out seeking revenge against his family. After island hopping for a while, the rest of Nicoll’s family arrived in Brisbane, Australia.
“There were riots, houses being burned. At one point they even released all these prisoners and armed them with guns. It was crazy. And dangerous for us,” Nicoll said. “During all the chaos, there were apparently people after our family. Seeking revenge or something. At the time I was 6, oblivious to it all. But in the years since, I’ve learned that someone from my [extended] family had apparently done something, so then our family had to suffer as a consequence. It was ritual stuff. An eye for an eye. It was all getting too dangerous on the mainland, so we fled. Started island hopping. Initially, we got aboard this little plane – a really dodgy thing – just to get to the island my grandmother is from. From there, dad left in the canoe and eventually we all got a flight to Brisbane.”
The family initially settled in Redcliffe, Australia, before moving back to the Solomons in 2003 for a span of three years. They eventually returned to Australia and settled in Queensland, where Nicoll started dabbling in a variety of high school sports. Nicoll had two uncles living downstairs in his family home — one a boxer and another a street fighter —who got him into MMA.
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When one of them brought back home a DVD of the legendary Fedor Emelianenko beating Hong Man Choi, Nicoll was instantly intrigued by the age-old tale of the smaller guy outclassing the bigger one – a tale which has inspired many a great MMA fighter.
“And just being around them, watching them hit the bags at home, or doing cartwheels and flips in the backyard, I was immediately intrigued… And then watching him [Emelianenko] defeat that seven-foot giant, immediately I fell in love,” Nicoll said. “Straight away I started watching more and more of Fedor’s fights. And despite being undersized for his division, he just kept winning. In spectacular fashion, too. So I knew straight away this sport was the real deal, and that I needed to study it. Apart from the self-defense aspect, it just all seemed so beautiful to me.”
Nicoll made his MMA debut in 2018 and has since racked up seven finishes in his eight career wins. Nicoll is excited to make his promotional debut on home soil against Mexico’s Jesus Santos Aguilar at UFC 305 this weekend in Perth, Australia. He can’t wait to get some UFC gear with his name printed for his dad, who is his namesake. Nicoll believes it his exotic style that’s going to pose a threat to many at 125 pounds.
“Because I’m actually Stewart Nicoll the fourth, so I want to give some of the gear to dad… I really think my style is going to prove a problem for people,” he said. “There’s not many guys, maybe a handful, who can really grapple and dominate on the ground, TKO guys on the ground. Obviously I have to go earn my stripes, get a feel for the bright lights, but I play a different game to most and I think that can be a problem for anyone in the division.”
