Outside Source
Mike Malott gets his first UFC headlining opportunity on Saturday. | Getty/UFC
If it wasn’t for one “bad minute,” Mike Malott might still be an undefeated fighter in UFC competition.
Likely up on the scorecards against Neil Magny at UFC 297, the 34-year-old Canadian faded badly in the waning moments en route to losing via technical knockout at the 4:45 mark of Round 3. What turned out to be a monumental comeback for Magny was a learning experience for Malott.
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“Ran into an issue in that one fight I lost; stuff came up in that one and I grew a lot from it, learned to humble myself in certain ways,” Malott told UFC.com. “I know I’m an elite-level fighter, but recognizing that ‘Hey man — sometimes you’re fighting the best guys in the world and you don’t need to force a finish’ [is really important]. I didn’t need to force a finish in that fight; I could have coasted to a decision and won, and looking back, that’s one of the things I changed… People love to bring that fight up, and rightfully so — that was the one fight that I showed some areas that needed growth — but I think when you zoom out and look at my career, I had a bad minute in that fight, and outside of that, I’ve fought really well my entire UFC career. Every other fight, I’ve clearly won, either by stoppage or a very clear decision, and then I dominated that fight, other than the last minute.
“I’ve had a pretty friggin’ good run so far; there is that to keep in mind.”
Malott will compete for the first time this year when he meets former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns in the UFC Winnipeg headliner on Saturday at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Malott, who is 6-1 in the UFC since earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, has gradually faced more difficult competition during his promotional tenure. That, in turn, allowed him to gain more Octagon experience by going the distance in victories over the likes of Trevin Giles and Kevin Holland.
Gaining Valuable Experience
“I almost have it in two different groups right now: my first four UFC fights, including Contender Series — four really tough guys, mostly Contender Series-style guys and then Mickey Gall, and ran through those guys,” Malott said. “The last four that I’ve fought, I’ve still had really good performances, but these guys aren’t Contender Series guys who might be able to hang in the UFC; these are guys with tons of experience and are smashing those guys who might be able to make it.
“If you’re not one of the best in the world, any of those four guys (Magny, Giles, Holland, Charles Radtke) is gonna whoop somebody’s ass. Those four are on a completely different level, and I think something to note too with the growth — and we’ve talked about this before — but we got back to that Neil Magny fight and my experience in the UFC and fighting in the last seven years before that was 15 minutes of cage time… Now, including that UFC 297 fight, went to the end of the third there, then went to a decision my next fight, second round knocked out against ‘Chuck Buffalo,’ and then went the distance against Holland. The amount of experience I’ve gotten relative to the amount of experience I had before is like I’ve tripled my fight time.”
While gaining experience is important, Malott emphasizes that his goal is to finish fights. For the most part he’s done that: Of his 13 professional wins, 11 have come inside the distance. Those two decision wins — over Holland and Giles — have occurred within the last two years.
“Again, I pride myself on being a dangerous fighter, on my finishing ability, and I still have a very high finishing percentage,” he said. “When I’m in there — I didn’t finish Holland last time, but when I’m throwing punches, I’m not throwing little tic-tac-toe punches; I’m trying to put a hole in this guy’s head and he’s a slick, slippery vet who knows how to stay safe… You grow, you move up the rankings against better and better guys who have experience against better guys, and sometimes you have to just take what’s in front of you rather than just forcing things.”
The 39-year-old Burns, who enters UFC Winnipeg on a four-bout skid, is nonetheless Malott’s most accomplished foe to date. The Team Alpha Male product is confident he has done everything necessary to prepare for the Brazilian veteran.
“I’ve turned every stone; done everything I could possibly do to be the most prepared I’ve ever been,” he said. “That mixed with the fact that I know I’m gonna give it everything I’ve got when I get in there is a really reassuring feeling. I feel ready. I’ve done everything that I need to do, I have everything that I need to have for this fight; I’m looking forward to actually getting in there.”
Malott is looking forward to taking the next step in his evolution while also fighting in a UFC headliner in his home country.
“At the end of the day, this is something I’ve wanted since I was 13 years old, man,” Malott said. “I’ve been dreaming of this every single day for close to 20 years — to get to make that walk — and to be in the main event is pretty special.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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