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If UFC is the cool newcomer to the sports world, then Jake Matthews is the cool newcomer’s bright young prospect. The 20-year-old from Victoria is the youngest male fighter signed to the mixed martial arts promotion, and is seen as potentially Australia’s first UFC champion. Undefeated through eight fights, “The Celtic Kid” faces his best test yet this month in Adelaide against another unbeaten, American James Vick.

WHAT’S HIS STORY?

Matthews hails from Epping in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, where his first sporting pursuit was Aussie rules football. He played juniors in the Northern Football League, and for Northern Knights at rep level, and was looking for a diversion in his off-season training. “I had a couple of mates that were doing kick boxing; I went to their gym,” he says. “They had jiu-jitsu and MMA classes, and I went from there.”

A year later, having just turned 16, Matthews had his first amateur fight in MMA, winning with a YouTube-worthy knockout kick to the head. “I was hooked. Didn’t go back to football.”

Working with his father Mick, who also has a background in martial arts, Matthews established himself as one of the top amateur fighters in the country. Mick says trying to find amateur opponents became difficult, and Matthews was straining to turn 18 and join the pro ranks, which he did in late 2012. During this time, he was training out of his backyard. “I built him a gym in the backyard,” Mick says. “When I say 'a gym', it’s six-and-a-half by four-and-a-half metres. We had two guys in there who had to stand certain ways so they wouldn’t hit ropes or the walls. The preparation for his first fight was all in the shed at home.”

In late 2013, Matthews made his way onto the UFC’s reality-TV gateway, The Ultimate Fighter. The show pitted aspiring fighters from Canada and Australia, housed together for a six-week grind in a ski chalet north of Montreal. The Ultimate Fighter has worn down many previous contestants, and Matthews admits he didn’t perform well, eliminated halfway through the series and bearing the brunt of Justin Bieber comparisons from the Canadians. But the experience was invaluable: “First time I fought in an Octagon, first time I saw one. I’d only ever fought in a boxing ring. All the big logos, it’s a lot bigger than a boxing ring. The size, the canvas feels different, you can’t cut people off in the corners, there’s a lot more room to move.”

The Ultimate Fighter put Matthews on the UFC’s radar, and he soon found himself on Fight Night cards in Auckland and Sydney, in which he recorded wins over American Dashon Johnson and Brazil’s Vagner Rocha. President of the UFC Dana White, in his characteristically excitable style, tabbed Matthews as a future star. Matthews also no longer trains in the backyard – he opened his own gym, XLR8, in Epping.

WHO’S HE LIKE?

A well-rounded fighter who seems likely to outgrow his current class of lightweight (70kg), Matthews has earned quick comparisons to top welterweight contender Rory MacDonald. Both represent the next generation whose fighting style developed with the UFC as its key influence, unlike the previous era’s boxers, wrestlers and martial artists who excelled in another discipline and segued over.

It’s one of White’s favourite talking points – the UFC will go to the next level as the sport attracts better, more specialised athletes. Matthews is known for superior cardio and the ability to pressure his opponent. “Jake fights with an intensity that’s hard to match,” dad Mick says. “He’s probably one of the fittest guys in the sport. When he turns it up, not many guys can keep up with him.”

Against the Texan Vick in Adelaide on May 10, Matthews is matched against a similar type of fighter. “The next fight is always the biggest fight of your career,” he says. “It’s a step up. He’s 3-0 in the UFC, I’m 2-0, so the ‘0’ has to go, sort of. He’s the first opponent I’ve faced who is all-rounded.”

Another victory would put Matthews in line for a major score, the UFC’s long-desired event in Melbourne later this year. The end of the cage-fighting ban in Victoria has cleared the way for an Octagon in Etihad Stadium, and while all kinds of top-line title fights have been mooted, the local kid on the card would attract some attention, too. “It would be massive,” Matthews says. "It would be one of the biggest UFC events ever. That’s the goal; win fights leading up to the Melbourne card and be that sort of drawcard for local people to watch.”

– Jeff Centenera

WHAT DO THEY SAY?

“I think Jake Matthews is an absolute stud. The kid looks awesome and the path he’s on, we’re going to continue giving him strong fights and see how he does ... This guy, man, he really excites us.”

- UFC president Dana White

Bottom Photo by Getty Images.