Mateus Mendonca has come a long way from his days traversing the streets of Brazil as a pizza deliveryman and motorcycle courier.

“Now that I’m signed with the UFC, I’m changing my family’s life,” he told Sherdog.com. “I want to provide all that’s good for my daughter.”

Mendonca will make another run at his first Ultimate Fighting Championship victory when he meets Nathan Maness in a UFC Fight Night 229 flyweight prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The once-beaten 24-year-old Brazilian prospect was part of the 2022 talent influx from Dana White’s Contender Series. However, Mendonca stubbed his figurative toe in an unsuccessful promotional debut, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Javid Basharat at UFC Fight Night 217 on Jan. 14.

“It was only a bad day at work,” he said. “I wasn’t as focused that time compared to other fights. Today, I’m more focused and more willing to dedicate myself to training and to chase after my dream, which is the title. It doesn’t matter who I’m facing, the title is always on my mind. I’ll always be aggressive and look for ways to finish the fight at any moment.”

Maness, 32, has experience on his side, but the former TKO Major League MMA champion finds himself on a two-fight losing streak. He last appeared at UFC Fight Night 214, where he surrendered to a guillotine choke from Tagir Ulanbekov in the first round of their Nov. 5 pairing. Maness holds a 3-2 record in the UFC, his victories over Johnny Munoz Jr., Luke Sanders and Tony Gravely offset by his losses to Umar Nurmagomedov and the aforementioned Ulanbekov.

In preparation for his latest assignment, Mendonca continues to sharpen his skills under the Diego Lima-led Chute Boxe camp in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There, he trains alongside a host of top-flight stablemates, including former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. They have adopted the iron-sharpens-iron approach.

“I’m very thankful to everyone there,” Mendonca said. “I plan to keep learning every day. I get beat up during training so I can evolve even more.”

While he remains focused on Maness and the task at hand, Mendonca does not shy away from loftier pursuits at 125 pounds. He can afford to dream big at this early stage of his career.

“My objective is the title,” Mendonca said. “Hopefully it will happen soon. I keep hunting for it. It’s going to happen sooner or later. I’ll bring it home to Brazil, to my hometown, to my team, to my wife, daughter and my entire family.”