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Sam Bruce, Deputy Editor, espn.com.au
Sometimes life comes at you fast.
For Australian Jonathan Micallef, the “opportunity of a lifetime” came at almost the exact moment his wife was due to give birth to their first child. But with baby and mum both doing well, Micallef will attempt to round out what has been a boom Contender Series for Oceania fighters when he steps into the Octagon against Mohamed Ado on Tuesday night [Wednesday morning AEDT].
With countryman Quillan Salkilld and Cody Haddon, and New Zealand’s Navajo Stirling, having already secured UFC contracts this season, Micallef knows exactly what is on offer in Las Vegas – and how it could potentially shift the course of his young family’s life.
“We were expecting a kid when we were supposed to be flying out, so we’ve had to rearrange my whole life and have him induced so that I was there for his birth,” Micallef explained to ESPN a few weeks out from the fight.
“There is just so much more on the line for me at the moment than there is for any other fight. The fact that it is my shot at potentially changing my life, and now that I have a son and setting his life up.
“It’s incredible, mate. It’s given me newfound motivation.”
Micallef has quite the backstory, too.
One of nine children with both Maltese and Uruguayan heritage, Micallef’s early scraps came around the dinner table.
“Growing up as one of nine was quite difficult. When food was put on the table you’ve got to grab it, especially if it was good food,” he said with a chuckle. “But as much as it was hard, it was good having brothers who could back you as much as you could back them. There was a helluva lot of fighting going on but now that we’re adults it’s good to be training with one another and being around each other. It’s fantastic and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
At 19, Micallef took his first steps into combat sports. After initially beginning his MMA journey in a home gym, he quickly found his way onto the Australian amateur scene, before turning pro in 2022.
Five straight wins put him on the Contender Series radar from there and while a first professional defeat in March this year proved a speedbump of sorts, Micallef wasn’t going to miss his moment when news of the UFC’s interest came through.
“I fought two weeks ago [Sept. 7] on Hex Series and the day of the fight my manager came to me with quite a promising email from Sean Shelby, checking how I would go from this fight and if I would come out uninjured,” Micallef told ESPN.
“So that was in the back of my mind going into this fight and I got the submission in the first round against a super tough opponent who was supposed to be the boogeyman. Two days later I got a call from my coach while I was on the tools on the jobsite, saying ‘mate, you won’t have to be doing that anymore, because you’ve got an opportunity of a lifetime to fight for a [UFC] contract on the Contender Series’.
“It didn’t feel real at the moment, it took quite a while to sink in, so here we are now getting ready.”
Outside the cage, Micallef works in his father’s home renovation business, specializing in kitchen and bathrooms. While he has taken a step back recently to put more time and energy into his MMA craft, he says time on his hands and knees on the jobsite and the example both his parents set helped instill the work ethic he believes can carry him to victory on Tuesday night – and onto the UFC proper.
“My work ethic has been something that I got from my parents and something that has pulled me through,” Micallef said.
“You’re sore, you’re tired, you’re beaten; you’ve got no social life; but you still get in there and go hammer and tongs. And I think that with the position that I am in now, that’s the way to do it.”
With countryman Haddon having last weekend marked his UFC debut proper with a unanimous decision win, and Stirling booked in for a December bout, Micallef need not look far for just how quickly things can move with a win on the Contender.
Motivated by their recent success – and his new family – Micallef wants to put the exclamation point on yet another impressive UFC run for Oceania.
“I am champing at the to get in there, but now seeing guys from our region doing so well it definitely gives me motivation, especially seeing other guys making to the States from the international scene outside the UFC,” he said.
“The Australian/New Zealand/Oceanic scene is ready to explode and it’s just incredible that I’m a part of it now and put my stamp on what is a massive growing area in the sport.”