They did sing, in fact, as Mike Malott strode out to the cage with Canadian pop-punk act Sum 41’s Fatlip blaring in the background. On their feet for the walkout, and on their feet again after Malott finished veteran Gilbert Burns with strikes at 2:08 of the third round. The main event fight saw Malott cement his star power in his home country, where he’s been the face of Canadian MMA alongside teammate Jasmine Jasudavicius for the past couple of years now.

That earned Malott one of two $100,000 Performance of the Night bonuses awarded at the UFC Winnipeg card. The other went to debuting featherweight Marcio Barbosa, who absolutely flatlined Dennis Buzukja with a punch early in their featured preliminary fight.

Fight of the Night at UFC Winnipeg went to Canadian bantamweight Charles Jourdain and Kyler “The Matrix” Phillips. Jourdain is now 3-0 as a bantamweight and has earned post-fight bonuses in all three bouts.

Gokhan Saricam, Jai Herbert, and John Yannis all secured $25,000 finishing bonuses on Saturday.

Following the event, UFC CEO and President Dana White announced an a gate of roughly $1.9 million U.S. for the promotion’s first trip to Winnipeg since 2017.

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“Listen, Eddie says a lot of dumb sh*t,” White told Cageside Press among other media at his post-fight scrum.

“I’m getting used to it. Eddie said that me and him are the biggest fight in boxing. There in lies the problem with boxing, and the fact that a fight promoter who’s actually put on big fights and have a stable of good fighters would say something that f*cking stupid is starting to not be as shocking as it was in the beginning.”

White didn’t mince words when addressing Hearn and other criticisms surrounding his latest ventures outside the UFC, particularly with Zuffa Boxing. The promoter pushed back against detractors questioning recent deals and the direction of his involvement in the sport. Framing the criticism as noise, White doubled down on letting results speak for themselves moving forward.

“You’re a f*cking bum, I’m old, and we don’t even deserve to be on a card with a bunch of real fighters, number one. Number two, everybody’s talking sh*t about Conor Benn and the deal that we made,” he said.

“I will say this like I said a few months ago; sit back, watch what we do this year, and then judge us by our body of work at the end of the year. I said that a few months ago and look where we are now and what we’re doing.”

White continued his critique of the boxing industry, expanding his frustration beyond promoters to include what he sees as a growing chorus of self-proclaimed experts online.

Speaking candidly, White took aim at both the structure of the sport and the voices that frequently weigh in on it, arguing that his firsthand experience has only reinforced his long-held beliefs. He’s clearly grown weary of the criticism specially when it comes to the deals Zuffa Boxing has made with up-and-coming star Conor Benn.

“It’s funny because I knew how f*cked up boxing was, but I never really realized how bad it was and how bad these guys that run the sport are at what they did until I got into it,” he said.

“Then all these guys on the internet that are so smart and such f*cking experts in the fight business man. Just because you have $35 and can start a f*cking website, and do a podcast means you’re some type of expert…you guys should be running f*cking Bellator and PFL and ONE FC. Go help these guys out man!”

As far as Benn is concerned, the long-time UFC president made it clear that he’s a fan.

“He’s been incredible. He’s a great kid, hilarious, very positive person. I like him,” said White.

“So far, so good.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Dana White above.

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Canada’s Jourdain went into the bout looking at it as an opportunity to break into the top 15, given Phillips had previously been ranked. “The Matrix,” meanwhile, said this week that he wasn’t focused on the numbers.

The two all-action fighters kicked things off for the Winnipeg crowd, with Phillips applying pressure early. Jourdain drew some oohs and ahhs with his first flying knee of the night, living up to his nickname, “Air Jourdain.” Disregarding the flashiness, Phillips continued to push forward, landing the first takedown of the fight.

Having submitted four of his past five opponents, Jourdain threw up a triangle choke from the bottom, but to no avail. Phillips used the opportunity to advance position, transitioning forward on the ground.

After around three minutes of control from Kyler Phillips, Jourdain was able to return to his feet, swarming the American with a number of strikes. Some damage began to show around Phillips’ eye as a close, competitive round came to an end.

More pressure from Phillips followed in round two, as he found an early trip to bring Jourdain back to the mat. The Canadian stayed tricky off his back, eventually working his way up while landing strikes in the process.

The temperature turned up in the back half of round two, with Phillips looking a bit spent after absorbing several shots to the body from Charles Jourdain. Trying to shore up his defense, Phillips leaned on his weight to hold Jourdain along the cage, but it wasn’t long before the Canadian slipped free and opened up with heavy striking.

With 30 seconds left in the round, Jourdain threw everything he had at Phillips to put a stamp on it, including a rolling thunder kick that just missed as the clock hit zero.

Likely even at 1–1 after two rounds, it was anyone’s fight heading into the third. Phillips opened well on the feet, lulling Jourdain into a sense of security before changing levels for a takedown.

It was short-lived on the ground for Phillips, but once Jourdain got back up, the American continued to find success on the feet, even as Jourdain seemed to catch a second wind.

Another flying knee came from Jourdain in an attempt to shift the momentum of round three, but Phillips smartly used his grappling to tie up the off-balanced Canadian and bring him back down.

Impressively, Jourdain made it back to his feet once more, using a kimura grip to rotate out from underneath Phillips. He went back to the flying knee again- this time landing clean on Phillips’ left eye, cutting him open in the biggest moment of the fight. Jourdain pressed forward with a flurry, knocking Phillips off balance multiple times before partially landing another rolling thunder as the final seconds ticked away.

With the fight going to the scorecards, the hometown fighter, Charles Jourdain, was awarded a unanimous decision victory, setting himself up for ranked opposition next. Jourdain moves to 18-8-1, with three consecutive victories to his name. On the other side, Phillips drops to 12-5-0, facing his third straight loss since defeating Pedro Munhoz back at UFC 299.

Official Result: Charles Jourdain def. Kyler Phillips via Unanimous Decision (29-28×3) 

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Herbert was entering his 10th UFC fight, Nallo his first. Yet fans have long wanted to see “Rat Garbage” in the UFC, after a strong start to his career and a stint in Bellator that included a Knockout of the Year candidate at Bellator 207 that made it all the way to ESPN.

When the fight started, Nallo was loose with the kicks, early going up high with the question mark kick. He was very aggressive early and dropped Herbert twice with a right hook, not even a minute in. When things looked as if the was going downhill for Herbert, he dropped Nallo with a right hand. Somehow, Nallo was able to use a leg lock to survive and get to his feet. He was still badly hurt. Herbert landed a left to the jaw, sitting down Nallo, and the GnP sent the ref in.

Official Result: Jai Herbert def. Mandel Nallo via R1 TKO (punches, GnP), 2:05

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Taking on Brazilian Thiago Moises on the Fight Night event’s main card, it remained to be seen how the crowd would react. Probably not all that enthusiastically.

Moises started the fight by using his physicality to set the tone against Gauge Young, finding some success early in the grappling. Young tried to stay active while remaining defensive, but was quickly brought back to the ground through a series of chain takedowns.

The Brazilian grew more dangerous as the round progressed, tying Young up in several vulnerable positions before landing some nasty elbows to close round one.

Round two was much more defensively sound for “Gee Money,” as he denied a number of takedowns from the pressuring Moises. The two began trading in the middle of the octagon, but Young started to lead the dance, directing where the fight was going.

Forced to counterstrike, Moises was accurate, landing a few hooks in range of Young and ending the round well with a clean combination after being denied on the ground once again.

Young’s success continued into the third round, with momentum fully shifted in the American’s favor. Moises attempted a number of takedowns, but ended up on his back, which drew a rain of boos from the Canadian crowd. Young began celebrating in response, but he was in for a surprise when Moises fired back – ruining his chances at a finish bonus and perhaps letting him back into the fight.

The two men threw down as the final round came to a close, and with the fight going to the scorecards, Gauge Young earned his second consecutive victory in the UFC.

Official Result: Gauge Young def. Thiago Moises via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

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It did snow during Fight Week in Winnipeg, but Barbosa was no doubt focused only on Buzukja, who entered the bout at 1-3 in the UFC off a loss against Francis Marshall. For Barbosa, the matchup presented an opportunity to continue building momentum against a fighter still searching for consistency inside the Octagon.

Meanwhile, Buzukja stepped into the fight with urgency, knowing a strong performance was crucial to getting back on track in the division. With both fighters carrying something to prove, the bout carried added importance beyond just another appearance on the card.

A methodical start to the round as Buzukja was active, going to all three levels. Barbosa was super patient, likely waiting for his opening. That opening came very soon, shortly after. As soon as Buzukja went to a combination, Barbosa slipped a punch and landed a left hook that sent Buzukja to the shadow realm brutally.

Barbosa came into the promotion with a lot of hype behind him, and at least thus far, it seems very much warranted. What a UFC debut!

Official Result: Marcio Barbosa def. Dennis Buzukja via R1 KO (left hook), 1:20

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At 34, Leblanc was getting a late start in the UFC, after compiling a 10-2 record on the regional circuit. Valentin, a TUF 32 finalist, had (including The Ultimate Fighter 32 finale) dropped three straight bouts under the UFC banner.

Leblanc started the fight, going up high and to the body with the kick. It kindly pissed Valentin off as he landed a few heavy leg kicks and went into an easy takedown. Valentin quickly sliced into mount and took the back very fast and smoothly. Valentin was firmly on the back with the body triangle. He was aggressive on the RNC, and it eventually snuck under, and Leblanc tapped.

An emotional Valentin dedicated the victory to the memory of his late mother who he lost just before he last fight.

Official Result: Robert Valentin def. Julien Leblanc via submission (RNC), round 1, 2:26

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Boser was allowed to walk off a win over Aleksa Camur, then struggled to find fights on the regional scene. A victory over Vinicius Moreira in 2025 was enough to land in a second look, with his return marking “Bulldozer” Boser’s first UFC fight on Canadian soil.

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