MoS 2 HDS catalysts promoted with Ni supported on SBA-15 were synthesized from sulfur containing Mo (ammonium thiomolybdate, ATM, and tetramethylammonium thiomolybdate, TMATM) and a Ni complex (Nickel diethylthiocarbamate, NiDETC). The catalysts have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N 2 -physisorption and High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The catalytic performance in the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reaction of dibenzothiophene (DBT) was examined at T = 623 K and P H2 = 3.4 Mpa. In comparison with the impregnation mode, the nature of the employed thiomolybdate complex shows a stronger influence on the MoS 2 morphology and consequently on the HDS activity of DBT. A similar high HDS activity to a commercial NiMo/c-Al 2 O 3 catalyst despite the pronounced stacking number is shown for a NiMoS 2 /SBA-15 catalyst derived from ATM. The catalysts derived from TMATM showed lower HDS activities compared to the catalysts obtained from ATM precursors due to probably the presence of closed shell structures (nano-onions) of MoS 2 which offer significantly smaller amount of HDS active sites (edge sites). Moreover, the HYD/DDS ratios are interestingly higher with respect to the HYD/DDS ratio of the commercial NiMo/c-Al 2 O 3 catalyst which could be ascribed to the generation of multilayered MoS 2 active phase.