UFC bantamweights Kyler Phillips and Charles Jourdain lit the place up with their scrap in the co-main event slot. Every fighter on this edition of our losers matchmaker in a rough place, but that makes for some high stakes matchups on the horizon.

Gilbert Burns

(NR) Mike Malott turned in a great night at the office, stopping UFC veteran (#11) Gilbert Burns in the third round of the UFC Winnipeg main event. Burns announced that he would be retiring from professional fighting after the loss.

The 39-year-old ends his 12-year career with the UFC riding a five-fight skid but went 15-10 overall across two weight classes. Burns also challenged Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight strap in 2021. ‘Durinho’ will be missed by fans as he brought a good-spirited attitude, slick submissions and unbelievable forward pressure in fights. A solid representative of the sport.

Burns’s next fight: Retirement

Kyler Phillips

Charles Jourdain secured a high-flying, high-action victory over Kyler Phillips via a unanimous decision in the co main event of UFC Winnipeg. It was an important bout for the division with Phillips being recently ranked in the Top 15 and Jourdain ascending through the ranks of the division since dropping down to bantamweight. The fight also ended up scoring Fight of the Night honors. Kyler now falls to 6-4 with the UFC and has dropped three in a row. Philips last earned a victory two years ago with a victory of Pedro Munhoz, who recently retired.

The 2017 Contender Series product needs a win badly here. Good next fight would be a matchup again Said Nurmagomedov. Said and Kyler were matched up previously, back in 2023. But that fight fell through after Said withdrew. Nurmagomedov is 1-2 since that fight cancellation while Phillips is 2-3.  This fight would be a great standup battle though the timing isn’t the best with Nurmagomedov’s last bout having been in July of 2025. The pair also share a loss to (#12) Vinicius Oliveira in the year of 2025. This bout could be high on the main card of a fight night.

Phillips’s next fight: Said Nurmagomedov

Mandel Nallo

Jai Herbert overcame a couple of early knockdowns to finish the Mandel Nallo just over two minutes into the pair’s fight on Saturday. A disappointing promotional debut for Nallo, a Bellator veteran and 2025 Contender Series product. 36-year-old Mandel now has a pro MMA record of 14-4.

Nallo has couple directions here in terms of matchups. An aggressive path vs. a more conservative one. Leaning towards giving him Jamie Mullarkey who is 6-7 with the promotion and has lost three of his last four. All three losses were first round stoppages, but against solid competition, Nasrat Haqparast, (#10) Mauricio Ruffy and Quillan Salkilld. Mullarkey was last in action at the end of January when he was submitted by Salkilld on UFC 325. A somewhat aggressive pairing but one that’s certainly feasible.

Backup choice here would be a pairing with Rolando Bedoya. Rolando is 0-4 with the UFC since being signed in 2023. Bedoya has yet to be stopped and he’s dropped fights to Khaos Williams and Kenan Song at 170lbs., and Jai Herbert and Jamie Mullarkey at 155lbs. Either way, exciting potential matchups for Nallo, but the timing, among other variables would work best with a matchup against Mullarkey. This would work well as a feature prelim type of fight with how Mandel brings it.

Nallo’s next fight: Jamie Mullarkey or Rolando Bedoya

Karine Silva

(#7) Jasmine Jasudavicius logged a hard-fought unanimous decision victory on Saturday, evading submissions from (#9) Karine Silva and landing takedowns and damaging ground n’ pound. Karine has now lost three of her last four and falls to 5-3 with the UFC. Rough four-fight stretch for Karine who, after her 2021 victory on the Contender Series ripped off three straight wins, all by submission in the first round. To be fair, Karine’s other losses in the UFC have been against stiff competition in Viviane Araujo and (#5) Maycee Barber.

Pair Karine up with Miranda Maverick for her next fight. Maverick also lost a unanimous decision to Jasmine, though it was back in 2023. Another common opponent and outcome against, Maycee Barber, who Maverick faced five years ago. These two women are right next to each other in the rankings and Miranda is coming off of a June of 2025 loss to (#6) Rose Namajunas but hasn’t been booked since then. Even though the timing does not matchup this is a great grappler vs. grappler ranked matchup.

Silva’s next fight: (#10) Miranda Maverick

Thiago Moises

Gauge Young got the split decision nod to open up the UFC Winnipeg main card on Saturday opposite of Thiago Moises. Thiago started off strong but was ultimately edged out by the strikes and takedown defense of his opponent. Thiago falls to 8-8 in the UFC and has lost three of his last four. All of Thiago’s losses with the promotion are against solid competition ((#12) Beneil Dariush, Damir Ismagulov, (WWCHP) Islam Makhachev, Joel Alvarez, (#5) Benoit Saint-Denis, L’udovit Klein, Jared Gordon).

A good matchup here for a vet like Moises would be to give him another young gun, this time, Chase Hooper. Hooper is 2018 Contender Series product that is 8-5 with the UFC at just 26 years old. Chase ripped off a five-fight win streak from 2023-2025, which featured three submission finishes. But he’s struggled with his recent step up in competition. Chase was finished in the first round by Alexander Hernandez in August of 2025. Most recently, Lance Gibson Jr. melted the young lightweight with knees at the end of last month.

This would be an excellent grappling matchup and would do some heavy lifting for both fighters. This fight could easily grace the main card of a fight nigh. Could even see it landing in a feature prelim slot of a pay per view card.

Moises’s next fight: Chase Hooper

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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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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) 

The post Charles Jourdain Wins Thrilling Fight Over Kyler Phillips, Eyes Rankings appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I’m gonna f*ck this dude up,” said Phillips (12-4) during this week’s media day. “He’s a good opponent, but I know his antics, he likes to talk and say things, but I’m going to beat his ass.”

While Phillips is confident, he seems to find the match-up as tantalizing as the rest of the fight world. Jourdain is 2-0 since arriving at bantamweight with two victories by guillotine and two Performance of the Night bonuses. Phillips himself, well, he’s known as “The Matrix” for a reason, recent struggles not withstanding.

“It’s a sick-ass match-up if you think of it. Dude, this guy, the way he fights is pretty exciting. The way I fight— like, I ain’t trying to convince myself saying things like that. But dude, this is a cool one.”

Phillips went on to add that “the way this guy has come up in the UFC from a young age and the way I’ve come up from a young age, and we’re now in our prime. To see that and to see his recent success, and he’s come down from 45 and where I’m at— you’re just going to see my skyrocket.”

Jourdain has said he sees the fight against Phillips as a chance to break into the top 15. Phillips has been there before, but isn’t worried about rankings at the moment.

“Numbers are like statistics, it’s just numbers. At the end of the day the cage shuts and I’m going to go in there to fight another dude. So I’m not really too worried about numbers or this and that. I’m just as much wanting to take him out as he’s wanting to get that number or whatever he’s looking for.”

Watch the full UFC Winnipeg media day appearance by Kyler Phillips above.

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As part of a number of fights announced by Dana White and the UFC on Thursday, Jourdain (17-8-1) is now set for the first Canadian date of 2026, taking on Kyler “The Matrix” Phillips (12-4) in what should prove to be a popular bantamweight match-up with fans.

The event, headlined by Gilbert Burns vs. Mike Malott at welterweight, takes place on April 18, 2026 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

Jourdain was last in action at UFC Vancouver in October, when he put away Davey Grant via guillotine. That was the second straight guillotine choke submission for Jourdain, who has earned back-to-back Performance of the Night bonuses for his wins over Grant and Victor Henry.

A couple of losses predate Jourdain’s current win streak; prior to that, he had another guillotine choke win over Ricardo Ramos. That also earned a post-fight Performance bonus.

The good news for Jourdain, who is now 2-0 as a bantamweight after spending years at 145lbs, is that the UFC’s post-fight bonuses have doubled to $100,000 U.S. (the promotion also introduced a $25,000 finish bonus with the onset of the Paramount+ broadcast deal).

Of late, Phillips has been trending in the opposite direction, losing bouts against Rob Font and Vinicius Oliveira. He’s 6-3 overall in the company.

UFC Winnipeg is set to take place on April 18, 2026 in Winnipeg, Manitoba with the following match-ups attached:

• Gilbert Burns vs. Mike Malott
• Julien Leblanc vs. Robert Valentin
• Tanner Boser vs. Gökhan Saricam
• Choi Dong-hun vs. André Lima
• Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Karine Silva
• Mitch Raposo vs. Allan Nascimento
• Melissa Croden vs. Darya Zheleznyakova
• John Castañeda vs. Mark Vologdin
• Charles Jourdain vs. Kyler Phillips
• JJ Aldrich vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth

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Oliveira (23-3) has not been quiet about wanting a matchup with Umar Nurmagomedov for a while now. Nurmagomedov hasn’t been receptive to the callouts just yet, but maybe the win over Phillips will get ‘Lok Dog’ an answer.

“I’d like so much to face Umar Nurmagomedov, but I think…I’m sure he’s afraid of me,” Oliveira told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“He run away for a long time ago. So he’ll never face me, and he will fade out behind Ali (Abdelaziz) his manager. I’d like so much to fight against him (in) October in his country. In Abu Dhabi.”

Wasn’t just a call out of Nurmagomedov as Oliveira seems to be focused on poking at his potential opponent for a fight.

“I go there just me and my coach and my (training partner). If he has courage to face me, but he doesn’t have courage to face me. He’s afraid of me.”

So if not Nurmagomedov then who? Maybe some ‘Suga’ is in order.

“So next one can be I think Sean O’Malley. Sean O’Malley’s a real man. I think he will accept this fight,” he said.

“He would not run away from me, but my first one of course is Umar Nurmagomedov.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Vinicius Oliveira above.

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Phillips, a.k.a. “The Matrix,” had seen a three-fight win streak snapped by Rob Font last time out. As for Oliveira, the Brazilian was 3-0 to start his UFC run.

This fight started with a wild exchange as Kyler Phillips dropped Oliveira in the first ten seconds. Oliveira was able to survive, as Phillips circled throwing a few lightning fast kicks to the head that narrowly missed. Oliveira couldn’t find his footing and was stumbling around the cage. Phillips started to kickbox effectively from the outside, as Oliveira marched forward with his hands down by his side. Oliveira was looking to land a massive right hand, but Phillips was quickly moving out of the way of the dangerous attacks. In and out of range Kyler was out landing Oliveira at distance. With a minute left in the round, Phillips had double the amount of significant strikes landed. A highly competitive five minutes more than likely went the way of Phillips.

In the second, Oliveira again marched forward throwing shots with fight ending intentions. A well timed left hook landed on the button for Oliveira that knocked Phillips to the ground. Kyler quickly returned to his feet but was badly hurt as Oliveira tried to pounce. Phillips tumbled to the ground as Oliveira ended up in top position in full guard. A very fast start for the Brazilian prospect who elected for the fight to return to the feet. Once standing again, Oliveira continued to throw bombs at Phillips loading up on every strike. A good low leg kick by Oliveira landed followed by a left hook upstairs. Phillips was fighting off the back foot and continued to eat big shots from Oliveira before entering the clinch. Oliveira landed another takedown in the final minute of the round. Good ground and pound put a stamp on the round for Oliveira, as the fight could have been 1-1 entering the third.

In the final round, Oliveira pressed forward while Phillips retreated to the cage. A good low leg kick landed for Oliveira, who seemed to be the fresher fighter. Another leg kick landed for Oliveira who missed a big left hook by inches. Phillips was trying to fight behind his jab, but kept moving backwards. Both fighters exchanged spinning kicks, before Oliveira landed a right hook that glanced off Phillips. With a minute remaining the round was even in terms of significant strikes. The intent on Oliveira’s punches seemed to be making the difference in this one. As the final bell sounded it seemed as though Oliveira had won two rounds to one.

The judges awarded the contest to unanimously to Vinicius Oliveira who seems to be one of the most intriguing young prospects in the division.

Official Result: Vinicius Oliveira def. Kyler Phillips by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

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Michel Pereira

Michel Pereira was thoroughly dominated in nearly every aspect of the fight until he was mercifully finished in the final round by his opponent, Anthony Hernandez. Pereira entered the fight ranked at #14 in the UFC’s middleweight division, while his opponent was ranked at #13.

The loss snapped an eight-fight winning streak that dated back to February of 2020. The streak has spanned over two weight classes as Pereira went 5-0 as a welterweight and then went 3-0 at 185lbs. Leading into this bout, every middleweight bout Michel had participated in the UFC, he had not only won in the first round, but also had received a performance bonus (Andre Petroski, Michal Oleksiejczuk, Ihor Potieria).

Pereira should face an up-and-comer for his spot in his next fight. Stand-out prospects, Shara Magomedov and Armen Petrosyan are scheduled to fight at UFC 308 next weekend. Shara is undefeated at 14-0 and is a perfect 3-0 in the UFC. Petrosyan is 8-3 and 3-2 in the UFC. Armen already has solid wins over studs like Gregory Rodrigues and Christian Leroy Duncan. The winner of that fight on the October 26 will be more than ready to step up to take on a ranked fighter like Pereira.

Michel’s next fight: Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan winner

Kyler Phillips

Kyler Phillips lost a unanimous decision at the hands of Rob Font in what was one of the biggest upsets at UFC Vegas 99. The loss snapped a three-fight win streak that dated back to July of 2021 (wins over Marcelo Rojo, Raoni Barcelos and Pedro Munhoz).

Kyler entered the fight ranked at #12 in the bantamweight division while his opponent, Rob Font, was ranked at #10.

Montel Jackson would be a good next fight for Phillips. Jackson is currently just barely in the top 15 at the #15 spot at 135lbs. Montel has won five in a row including three stoppages coming in the very first round and two performance bonuses in the same time period. Jackson was last in action back in July when he KO’d Da’Mon Blackshear with a straight left in just 18 seconds.

Kyler’s next fight: Montel Jackson

Sumudaerji

Sumudaerji was soundly defeated in a very competitive back and forth striking battle with Charles Johnson.  With that loss ‘The Tibetan Eagle’ now falls to 3-4 with the UFC. Sumudaerji has now lost his last three fights in a row after starting off with the UFC going 3-1 from 2018-2021.

A good next fight for Sumudaerji would be a fighter like Jimmy Flick. Jimmy has lost three of his last four fights since his mini retirement ended spanning from 2021-2023.

One of the fighters he lost to since his retirement was none other than Charles Johnson, who finished him in the first round of their bout, last January. Flick was last in action back in June when he lost a unanimous decision to Nate Maness.

Sumudaerji’s next fight: Jimmy Flick 

Jake Hadley

Jake Hadley was stunned on Saturday night when he lost a unanimous decision to the short notice newcomer Cameron Smotherman. With the loss Hadley now falls to 3-4 in the UFC and has lost three of his last four fights.

Hadley should fight Brad Katona in his next bout. Katona fought and lost on the undercard of UFC Vegas 99 to Jean Matsumoto in a unanimous decision. He is 4-4 in the UFC and 2-2 since winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 31 last August. The timing for this fight would make sense and it seems like a more appropriate fight than trying to rebook the fight with Brady Hiestand.

Jake’s next fight: Brad Katona

Daniel Pineda

Daniel Pineda put on an extremely gutsy performance against Darren Elkins but was ultimately defeated in a bloody three round unanimous decision war. The fight would go on to win fight of the night honors.

In his post-fight speech Pineda took of his gloves and laid them in the center of the octagon. He then took to the mic to announce his retirement from the UFC and MMA.

Daniel’s next fight: N/A

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Ahead of the bout, Font had stated that he hoped a trip to hospital following the fight would not be required — but he was willing to go that route if need be. He had also added Firas Zahabi, of TriStar fame, to his corner.

Both fighters got right to work as Phillips thru out a low leg kick. Kyler was able to get in on a single leg shortly after and grapple his opponent to the ground. Phillips nearly effortlessly moved to side control, while landing short strikes. About two minutes into the fight and Kyler started to attack the arm and shoulder. Once that got Font’s attention, he began raining down a couple of well-placed elbows. Phillips continued to look to advance position. With a little over a minute left in the round, Font found a way back to his feet during a failed submission attempt.

Once the fight was standing again, Kyler looked a tad sluggish, moving his feet along the cage and throwing lots of kicks. Font shot in deep on a takedown and after a brief stalemate against the cage, the round ended seeing a short striking exchange on the feet.

The second round saw Font stalking his opponent looking to land his big right hand. Phillips evaded for a few seconds before lining up a well-timed takedown. Font was able to pop up a few moments later. Phillips was back on his bike, moving his feet, circling around the octagon. Font would follow, and crash in with a boxing combination once within range. With a couple minutes left in the round, Rob began to really find a home for that long right hand as Kyler faded out of range.  In the final minute of the round Kyler finally started to throw back a little, from the clinch. But he was ultimately was heavily out struck and outpaced over the course of the round. At the last second of the round Kyler was able to score a little dump takedown.

Kyler came out with his wrestling singlet on a shot for a takedown almost immediately to open the third. Font was able to work out of the takedown and began to go back to walking down his opponent. Rob was able to score on multi punch combinations, bouncing his opponents head up and back as he retreated. About midway through the round Phillips lands a leg kick that partially buckles Font. After a short spat in the clinch Rob is back to landing jab-led combinations.

Phillips looked extremely tired as he over committed on a punch a fought off the subsequent takedown attempt. With seconds left in the round Font continued to come forward crashing into his opponent still looking for that big right hand. The fight would end with Kyler attempting one last takedown to sort of slow the pace as time expired. With the scorecards revealed, all three judges had awarded the fight to Rob Font, with triplicate 29-28 scores.

Official Result: Rob Font def. Kyler Phillips by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Earlier on media day Phillips wouldn’t say whether or not he was looking for a bloody war with Font on Saturday.

“I’m with him. I hope I don’t leave his place bloodied up and on the stretcher again and going back to the hospital,” Font told reporters on Wednesday.

“But if it has to come down to it I’m the guy for it. I will get in there and do what I have to do to try to get the W, try to get the finish, but in a perfect world I get in there and leave as clean as possible.”

Font (20-8) will get Phillips at UFC Vegas 99. Phillips has proven to be a tough fight for anybody, a fun fight for the fans, and a guaranteed entertaining bout for as long as it lasts.

“I think this is a great matchup. Fight of the night for sure. He brings it. He starts off fast. I believe I start off fast as well. He has a wild kicking style. He’ll pull guard and try to jump on submissions,” he said.

“He just beat Pedro Munhoz. This is another tough fight. He might not have the ranking, or the big name yet, but this is just as dangerous as (of) a fight as anybody else I’ve fought.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Rob Font above. He takes on Kyler Phillips at UFC Vegas 99 on Saturday night.

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