When Dana White signed Matheus Camilo in December 2024, the Brazilian became only the second fighter from the Amazon state of Acre to reach the UFC. He took an odd route. He spoiled a viral prospect’s audition in South Korea, on a card White was filming for his talent-scouting show.
Since then the UFC Lightweight has been submitted on his debut, ground out a win at Madison Square Garden, flattened a hometown favourite in Baku and dropped a razor-close decision in his first co-main event.
The Jaguar in Brief
Camilo was born in Rio Branco, the capital of Acre, and fights out of Las Vegas at Xtreme Couture. He stands 5ft 10in, fights orthodox and competes at 155 lbs. His pro MMA record is 11-4 and his UFC record is 2-2. Seven of his 11 wins ended early, five by knockout and two by submission.
The nickname comes from home. Camilo named himself after the predator of the jungle he grew up beside, and he ties the animal to power, precision and silence. He has never been fussy about opponents either. He once told UFC.com he would move up to Heavyweight to fight Jon Jones, and he laughed as he said it.
Burgers Across the Road From Ramon Dino
Camilo grew up poor in Sobral, a working-class neighbourhood of Rio Branco. One of the regular faces on his street was Ramon Dino, the bodybuilder now known worldwide as the Dinosaur of Acre. Camilo still laughs about watching Dino work through towering X-Tudo burgers at the snack bar opposite his front door.
He started out in kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. Around 16 he began training MMA at the gym opened by Francimar Barroso, the first fighter from Acre to make the UFC. His pro debut in February 2019 came on Barroso’s own regional show, Bodão Fighting Championship. Camilo scraped through on a split decision.
Losing Gentil
The loudest voice in his corner was his father, Gentil Camilo, who had been talking about the UFC since Matheus was a boy. Gentil died during the pandemic, and his son wanted to quit.
His mother would not hear of it. She told him that giving up made no sense, so he kept going.
When the UFC contract finally came, she was his first phone call.
One Visa and a Spare Seat in the Corner
By then Camilo had already swapped Acre for Rio de Janeiro and joined the famous Nova União team under Dedé Pederneiras, the gym behind José Aldo and Renan Barão. His first three pro fights came in Brazil. He won two of them, either side of a first-round submission loss on Shooto Brasil.
The break came out of nowhere. Bruno Cappelozza and Ronny Markes were travelling to the United States during the pandemic and needed one more cornerman, and Camilo was the only one in the group with a visa. He went. In his Ag Fight interview about leaving Rio for Las Vegas, he recalled Pederneiras telling him that staying in America would be the best thing he ever did.
He stayed. Xtreme Couture took him in, and fellow Brazilians Mairon Santos and Nikolas Motta helped him settle. He went four years without seeing his mother.
Six Straight on the Regional Scene
The American chapter opened with a first-round TKO at XFC 45 in August 2021. Six months later Aric Mercado caught him in a guillotine at Fury FC 57. Nobody beat him on the regional circuit again.
He knocked out Tyrek Malveaux 24 seconds into the second round in June 2022, then tapped Jake Heffernan with a first-round kimura. Alberto Romo went out in the first at LXF, and Dorian Ramos got caught in a third-round triangle armbar back at Fury FC. In October 2024 Camilo headlined Tuff-N-Uff 139 and outpointed Jhonasky Sojo over three rounds.
Gatecrashing Nabotov’s Big Night
Dorobshokh Nabotov grabbed headlines in October 2024. At the UFC 308 press conference he took the microphone and asked Dana White for a contract. White gave the unbeaten Tajik a tryout instead. It was set for Chan Sung Jung’s Z-Fight Night card in Goyang, South Korea, with cameras rolling for Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.
Camilo had spent months waiting for a Contender Series call that never came. When his manager rang about Korea, he said yes on the spot.
Nabotov wrestled hard and leaned on him against the fence for long stretches. Camilo did the cleaner damage and took the unanimous decision on 14 December 2024, and White signed him off the back of it. Camilo admitted afterwards he wished he had shown more of his striking.
A Rude Welcome From Gabe Green
The UFC debut came on 17 May 2025 at the UFC APEX. His opponent was Gabe Green, back after two years out and dropping to Lightweight. Camilo went in a heavy favourite and looked sharp through the first round, flicking out kicks and digging hooks.
One scramble flipped the fight. Green missed a flying knee, and Camilo took him down, advanced towards mount and locked up a triangle. Green slammed his way free, got behind him and wrenched on a rear-naked choke until Camilo tapped at 3:43 of the second round.
Grinding It Out at the Garden
A booking against Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady at UFC 321 fell apart late. The UFC moved him onto the UFC 322 card at Madison Square Garden on 15 November 2025, opposite Viacheslav Borshchev.
It got ugly in places. Camilo dragged the kickboxer down, took mount and hunted an arm-triangle. Then he ran on fumes in the third as Borshchev poured on combinations. The early grappling held up on the cards at 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28, and Camilo had his first UFC win.
Silencing Baku
The statement win came on 27 June 2026 on the main card of UFC Baku. Nazim Sadykhov was fighting at home in the National Gymnastics Arena, and the crowd was his from the first bell.
Camilo barely threw for a minute and a half. Then Sadykhov stepped in and ate a counter right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas. Three hammerfists later the referee waved it off, a first-round TKO at 1:31.
Sadykhov protested and the arena booed. Cageside Press reported that Camilo called it a great stoppage in his post-fight interview, and he paid full respect to the man he had just beaten.
Herbert Takes the Last Ten Minutes
Baku earned Camilo his biggest billing yet. On 10 October 2026 he faced England’s Jai Herbert in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 290 at Meta APEX.
He made weight without fuss and won the first round on all three cards. Herbert took over from there. He stuffed takedowns, landed ground-and-pound from top position and walked down a tiring opponent in the third. The official judges’ scorecards on MMA Decisions show all three judges scoring it 29-28 for Herbert, each one giving Camilo the opening round.
Herbert said afterwards that he saw Camilo loading up on big shots and knew it would drain him. The defeat snapped a two-fight win streak and leaves Camilo at 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the UFC.
Matheus Camilo MMA Record and Fighter Stats
- Name
- Matheus Camilo
- Nationality
- Brazilian
- Weight Class
- Lightweight
- Date of Birth
- 2 January 2001 (Age 25)
- Height
- 5’10”
- Pro Record
- 11-4. 5 wins by KO, 2 wins by submission
- UFC Record
- 2-2. 1 win by KO
Recent Fight Record
| Date | Event | Opponent | Result | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-Oct-26 | UFC Fight Night | Jai Herbert | L | Unanimous Decision |
| 27-Jun-26 | UFC Fight Night | Nazim Sadykhov | W | 1st Round TKO |
| 15-Nov-25 | UFC 322 | Viacheslav Borshchev | W | Unanimous Decision |
| 17-May-25 | UFC Fight Night | Gabe Green | L | 2nd Round Rear Naked Choke |
| 14-Dec-24 | ZFN 2 | Dorobshokh Nabotov | W | Unanimous Decision |
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