UFC Edmonton wasn’t the most successful event ever when it came to winning Canadians, but main eventer Mike Malott put in an impressive performance, knocking out Joaquin Buckley with a powerful knee in the second round. (see highlights here).
Malotti has long been heralded as the potential next big thing in Canadian MMA, and he certainly looked the part on Saturday night as he pushed through Buckley’s powerful attacks to unleash his dangerous offense. Finally, he broke Buckley, leaving his opponent out cold on the canvas.
Malott discussed the win with the media at UFC Edmonton post-fight press conference.
“I mean, I saw the mouth guard fly out,” he said. “He fell face first. I was like, OK, I’m pretty sure it’s a wrap. Throw another one, you know? You can’t let a guy walk back or anything like that, right? So, yeah. I had to follow up with another one and put him out. But yeah, I knew it was pretty much a wrap.”
Buckley did his best stir the pot all week, but Malott said it did not affect him in the least.
“I don’t care what the boys do, man,” he said. “I’ve had guys talk trash. I’ve had guys want to be my buddies. I’ve had guys be indifferent. How they act before a fight doesn’t really matter. You can try to overanalyze, like, ‘Oh, nice. I got the better of him when I looked down’ or ‘I did it’ or ‘Whatever I did, we did it’. don’t care what you said before, I’m still who I am regardless.
“Like, I’m going to be my style. I’m going to be intelligent. I’m going to be violent. I’m going to be patient. I’m going to pick you apart. I’m going to dissect you and hopefully make you stand out.”
The UFC announced its return to Toronto on Jan. 30 for UFC 336, and there’s already a lot of talk about Malott getting a top middleweight contender to fight there. Jack Della Maddalena has been featured, as well as Belal Muhammad and Michael Morales.
“Any one of these guys can turn me on,” Malott said, declining to name any names. “You know, I got my phone right here, so I’m waiting for a call. Hopefully it won’t be a couple of weeks. I want to get some rest. But yeah, man. I’m ready to defend Canada in the Octagon. So when they come back in January, expect me to be there.”
This is Malott’s fifth win in a row and the Canadian fighter has just one loss in the UFC: main map collapse against Neil Magny at UFC 297, causing many to jump off and declare him a non-factor in the division.
“When you have a loss, people point to, oh, that’s who the guy is,” Malott said of the opinions against him. “I think it’s almost three years ago, man. I’ve spent so much time trying to shut down the things that led up to this loss.”
“It was like a pressure cooker of everything, put every flaw or shortcoming that I have as a mixed martial artist under a microscope and unfortunately bring it to the world. But I’ve grown as a man, it knocked me down but couldn’t hold me down. And I’m better now than I was then and I just keep growing.”
The tests don’t get any easier for Malotti, who will get a chance to erase the previous one from the minds of the people of Toronto with a better performance in the city. This is sure to be another pressure cooker, especially if he gets a shot at the top five at welterweight.