Stewart Nicoll narrowly escaped the Solomon Islands as a kid, now he makes his UFC debut

Stewart Nicoll’s phenomenal journey to the UFC all started when his family fled to Australia when he was six. It was then that he was introduced to mixed martial arts, Nicoll tells BRENDAN BRADFORD.

Stewart Nicoll was just six when his family fled the Solomon Islands for the first time in 2000.

The country was being torn apart by political and ethnic turmoil, and after a coup, the nation’s capital of Honiara became too dangerous for them to stay.

“It was just craziness with riots, which happens every few years,” 29-year-old Nicoll, who makes his UFC debut at UFC 305 in Perth next month, tells this masthead.

“People were getting released from prison armed with guns – it was pretty chaotic.

“There were people coming after our family, so we fled. We came to Australia.”

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A few years later, once the chaos had eased, the family returned and Nicoll went back to school there.

“But then something else happened – I can’t remember now, but it was another riot or something – so they decided we were definitely safer in Australia,” the flyweight star says. “So we settled in Redcliffe and I’ve been there ever since.”

It was there that two of his mum’s brothers introduced Nicoll to mixed martial arts.

Nicoll is one of the hottest prospects in Australian MMA. Picture: Beatdown Promotions

One of them was a boxer, and the other, says Nicoll, “was more known as a street fighter”.

And we’re not talking brawls in Fortitude Valley on a Saturday night.

We’re talking life and death on the streets of Honiara.

“You’ve gotta know your machete defence – that’s the weapon of choice – that’s real street fighting,” he says. “You’ve gotta have a few screws loose to get into a scuffle over there.

“He’s someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. He sorted some of the crazies out. He was feared and respected, an enforcer and a problem solver.

“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 really cool.”

Nicolls’ first fights were against his two brothers on a trampoline in that same backyard.

But when he was shown a video of the six foot MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko beating the seven foot tall man-mountain Hong Man Choi, he knew he had to start training properly.

Nicoll (top) fights Jesus Aguilar at UFC 305 in Perth in August. Picture: Supplied

Choi outweighed Emelianenko by around 60 kilograms, and for a small kid like Nicoll, it was inspirational.

“I was just in awe,” he says. “That was incredible – a small person like myself could potentially beat up bigger people.

“He was my first MMA hero and someone I studied early on.”

Nicoll started training judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in his new home in Queensland, made his professional MMA debut in 2018 and gradually earned a name as one of the brightest talents on the local circuit.

Now 8-0 with seven stoppage wins, Nicoll makes his long-awaited UFC debut against flyweight prospect Jesus Aguilar at UFC 305 next month.

The blockbuster card will be headlined by middleweight world champion Dricus du Plessis defending his title against Israel Adesanya, while fellow Aussie flyweight Steve Erceg takes on New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France.

Nicoll - who has a family of his own now, including three kids - will represent Redcliffe when he steps into the Octagon for the first time, but is also proud of his Solomon Islands roots.

Nicoll’s family twice fled the political and ethnic turmoil of the Solomon Islands. Picture: Solomon Islands Government Communications Unit via Getty Images

“I was born there and spent nine years of my life there,” he says. “I love it over there and I’ve been lucky enough to go back with my wife just before Covid and show her that side of me – the small islands with leaf huts and no toilets.

“It definitely speaks to me and when I’m retired, I’d like to disappear into one of those islands and live the rest of my days with my family, fishing and being with nature.

“It’s a massive part of who I am, but Australia is where I’ve grown up, and Redcliffe is home.

“When I travel, every time I get back home and drive across the Hornibrook Bridge that leads to Redcliffe, I always have a sense of home.”

Originally published as Stewart Nicoll narrowly escaped the Solomon Islands as a kid, now he makes his UFC debut