Alden Coria is back this weekend for his second start of the year and third appearance inside the Octagon overall, with Stewart Nicoll standing across from him in Oklahoma City. It is another chance for Coria to keep his unbeaten UFC start intact and to force his way into a conversation he says still feels like it is happening around him, not to him.
That frustration came through in the way Coria described the split-screen reality of his rise. He said he and his girlfriend talk about why Alessandro “Nono” Costa keeps getting more fights while he is still trying to reach that level, adding that it is tough because he wants that same position and Costa is now in the top 15. Coria beat Costa on short notice in his UFC debut less than a year ago, winning the first two rounds on all three scorecards before stopping him in the third. He then added a home game win over Luis Gurule, extending his unbeaten streak to six after the Costa victory.
That is what makes this matchup feel bigger than a routine return. Coria has won each of his first two UFC appearances, but the opponent he beat is the one being celebrated as a top-15 flyweight, and that is the gap he is trying to close with his own next performance. He said after this one he would be open to running the Costa fight back, even with a new contract, and he made clear he wants to do it for that top-15 spot. “I’m gonna make a name for myself,” he said.
Nicoll offers a different kind of test. He has fallen in each of his first three UFC starts, and Coria sees a style matchup that should force the kind of fight he wants. Coria said Nicoll is likely to grapple, but added that he is comfortable there and just as dangerous on the feet. He also said he does not overlook anybody, warning that one punch can change everything. That is the real shape of this weekend: Coria is not only trying to win again, he is trying to leave Oklahoma City with a stronger claim on the division than the man who beat him did.
He said he is leaning on his coaches to keep his head level and stay sharp, and that may matter as much as anything when the fight starts. The next step is simple enough: if Coria handles Nicoll the way he believes he can, the argument for a shot at the names above him gets harder to ignore.
