Jonathan Micallef | Take Two

Originally, Micallef was slated to face Oban Elliott in September when the UFC ventured to Perth. Even that was a longer wait than he envisioned coming out of his debut win, but the Melbourne man was thrilled to share the Octagon with “The Welsh Gangster,” who had posted three wins in his own rookie year and was hustling back into action after suffering his first UFC setback in June. But Elliott landed in country feeling ill and got progressively worse, with the UFC medical team determining that he had pneumonia and was in no shape to fight, scuttling the highly anticipated welterweight clash.

“I go through everything in my head before the fight — ‘What if he hits me with this? What if these things happen?’ — but that was not in there. That was not a part of my thought process,” admitted Micallef, recalling his emotions and reactions to the fight cancellation. “It was really hard to switch without having a fight. As an athlete, when you fight, it’s like a release in pressure because you’re building up, training, dieting — I’m a big welterweight, so I have to do a lot to make the weight — and then I also had a little more time off than I would have liked to.

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“But as much as all those things affected me, I think I’m better for it. I’ve got another rep in making weight, doing a camp, preparing for Oban and doing the whole UFC thing.”

While it was a brand-new experience for Micallef at the UFC level, he was fortunate to have someone that had dealt with similar circumstances to lean on for counsel.

“When I was in Perth, I saw Rob (Whittaker), and I was like, ‘What would you do in this situation?’ and he said, ‘I’ve been in this situation exactly when I was supposed to fight Kelvin Gastelum,’” explained the 26-year-old, who trained with the former middleweight champion in the past. “He was in the opposite position — I think he went in for surgery that day — and he basically said, ‘Just f****** deal with it, bro!’”

He laughed and acknowledged Whittaker was correct in his assessment that the only thing he could do was deal with it and let out his built-up energy on some poor soul in the gym.

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“Some unfortunate person definitely copped that,” he added with a smirk.

As much as it was a frustrating situation to deal with in the moment, hindsight allowed Micallef to see the positives that came after spending an entire year waiting in the wings, working on his craft. Though far from ideal for someone in the early days of their UFC tenure, the delay in facing Elliott and overall experience of the last year is one that helped galvanize his ambitions and desires.

“If it was to be one word, it would probably be endurance — the ability to have endurance throughout, continue to grind and get better,” Micallef offered when asked to sum up his first year on the roster. “People always tell me, ‘You’re young; you’ve got so much time,’ but if I’m not using this time, then I don’t, and it’s wasted… I’ve just been a real student of the game, constantly learning and getting better because that’s the only way I make it to the top.

“I’m not a world champion yet, but I’m working there and I’m close,” he added. “I’m just gonna keep having that endurance and even if I have more years like this year where I only get one fight in — God-willing it doesn’t happen; I want to get really active this year — the way that I spent the last year, I’ll be right there.

“Islam Makhachev — let’s go.”

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That’s a bold statement from a second-year talent still a few days away from striding out to the Octagon for the second time, but Micallef has never been short on self-belief. More importantly, he’s eager to back up his words, beginning with Saturday’s showdown with Elliott.

“I just want to go out there and put on a stellar performance,” he said. “As much as all the bright lights and the noise makes it all worthwhile — you want that to be there — I want to go out there and show my best self. I know if I do that, I’m gonna blow him out of the water.”

And should that come to pass, “The Captain” believes he will be ready to set sail toward a place in the rankings and eventually title contention.

“I think it starts to set me up as a prospect in the welterweight division,” Micallef said. “I’m young, I’m just getting my feet wet in the UFC, and I think it sets me up as a prospect, and I’m gonna have a massive year. Hopefully I get a chance to face a ranked guy by the end of the year. I really do think either late this year or early next year I’m gonna be in ranking contention.

“If I can get two fights back-to-back here at the start of the year, I would love to do that, then have a little bit of time off, and then do the same towards the end part of the year,” he added, charting his ideal course for 2026. “But the guys in the UFC have their ideas and plans, so let’s just get in, get out uninjured, and then move on from there.”