Winnipeg, MB — You may need to start calling him “Captain Canada” soon, eh?
Mike Malott (14-2-1) got the job done in a big way at UFC Winnipeg on Saturday. A card that on paper was maligned by fight fans (and even during the preliminary portion of the event) got better as it went on, culminating with Malott’s third-round TKO of Brazilian veteran Gilbert Burns.
Burns retired after the fight, while Malott will almost certainly enter the welterweight top 15 in just a few days’ time. He’s now won four straight, with a 7-1 record overall in the UFC.
Celebrating after the victory, hoisted aloft by his coaches, was a chance to let it all out following a grueling training camp. “I pour so much of myself into the preparation in this sport, and it’s been a long journey for me. It feels great getting that release after fighting a tough guy,” Malott said following the event, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “Just time to let it all out after a fight and just feel all the feelings.”
During Wednesday’s media day, Malott had suggested he’d made some gains ahead of the fight, his first main event with the promotion. Expanding on that after the win, Malott noted that “I feel like my conditioning and my cardio has leveled up like crazy. That’s something that I’ve focused on a lot over the last six months, in recognizing that after winning my last fight [against Kevin Holland], there was potential that I could be in a main event.”
“I didn’t want to be caught eight weeks out from a fight just considering it then, so I spent kind of like six months really working on my cardio and conditioning. I felt great in there tonight, I felt like I wasn’t even really breathing heavy in there.”
To get to that point, Malott endured what he called “without a doubt the most grueling camp I’ve had in the UFC so far. It was wave after wave of fresh opponent on me and shark tanks and a lot of driving to the gym, sitting in the parking lot for three minutes like ‘god damn it, what am I going to go through today? This is going to suck, man.'”
At the same time, Malott knew that the process was what he needed to go through to feel his best at UFC Winnipeg. “That’s what’s most important, and it paid off.”
Aside from the win itself, and victories by fellow Canadians Charles Jourdain, Jasmine Jasudavicius, and Melissa Croden, one of the most memorable moments for fans in the Great White North was Mike Malott’s walkout, to a very Canadian cut in Sum 41’s Fatlip. It was a moment Malott was able to take in and appreciate.
“Oh yeah man. That was sweet. Take my time, just make sure these milestones don’t go unappreciated. It’s my first main event. You never know how many fights you get in this sport. I try to treat every one like it’s my last and just, you never know what happens in life,” stated Malott, who added that he made himself “soak this up, remember what this crowd feels like and looks like in this arena. Smells like. Try to remember as much as you can. Even remembering like, that they seamlessly started the song again because we were there long enough. I’m like ‘oh that was nicely done boys. Well done in the booth.’ Just things like that. Trying to remain present and just recognize what’s going on.”
Watch the full UFC Winnipeg post-fight press conference with Mike Malott above.
