Welterweight bout a full circle moment for Malott

It’s almost a guarantee that Mike Malott’s phone will ring whenever the Ultimate Fighting Championship plans a trip north of the border.

The 34-year-old from Burlington, Ont., has already stepped inside the octagon in Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton and Montreal. On April 18, he’ll add Winnipeg to that list.

It was announced two weeks ago that Malott will headline the promotion’s return to the city at the upcoming UFC Fight Night against Gilbert Burns of Brazil in a welterweight bout.

“I love it. I want to do a whole Canadian tour and fight everywhere I can in this country,” said Malott in an interview with the Free Press.

“It’s pretty cool having an arena full of people cheer for you while you get in a scrap. There’s nothing quite like it in life,” said the mixed martial artist who was in Winnipeg on Tuesday to promote the upcoming event.

Malott is no stranger to Canada Life Centre. His younger brother, Jeff Malott, spent four seasons with the Manitoba Moose (2020-24) after going undrafted out of Cornell. He played one game for the Winnipeg Jets — a 6-4 win in Chicago on March 20, 2022 — and the forward is now a regular on the fourth line with the Los Angeles Kings with eight points in 43 games this season.

Jeff was also college teammates and roommates with Jets forward Morgan Barron.

“It’s a cool full circle moment. He played here a bunch, and I’ll be able to fight here so it’s another awesome moment for us,” said Malott.

“I think it’s even cooler that we’re in different fields. There’s no competition, we’re not competing for the same thing. It’s nothing but positivity. I’m super proud of him, and he’s super proud of me… We always take a moment to chat about this and say, ‘Dude, how cool is this that we’re on similar paths, kind of parallel paths, together at the same time?’”

When the Jets wrapped up their pre-game skate on Tuesday before hosting the Chicago Blackhawks, Malott stopped by the locker room to catch up with a few familiar faces.

“Yeah, it was super cool. A lot of the guys were like, ‘Hey, how’s your brother doing? He was a great guy. Tell him we said hi,’” said Malott, who attended several Moose games over the years. “They were super nice guys. I feel like with fighting and hockey there’s a lot of mutual respect between the two because they’re hard as nails sports.”

Malott grew up playing the puck game — idolizing hall-of-fame defenceman Chris Pronger — but when he saw MMA for the first time as an early teen, it quickly became his main focus. His dream was to one day fight in the UFC, and since making that a reality in 2022, he’s gone 6-1 and has established himself as one of the best Canadians in the sport today.

“I also wasn’t allowed to watch (MMA) in my house when I was a kid. It was like this forbidden thing that was so tempting as a kid and I got even more obsessed with it,” said Malott, who owns a career 13-2-1 record.

“If I had unlimited access to it, maybe I would’ve burnt myself out. But I constantly wanted more and was never satiated as far as fighting was concerned so I just developed this crazy obsession and it’s still here today.”

He never would’ve guessed that his obsession would one day lead to his childhood hero becoming a fan of his. After making Adam Fugitt tap out with a guillotine choke at UFC 289 in Vancouver on June 10, 2023, Pronger — not knowing that Malott used to look up to him — reached out.

“He messaged me on Instagram saying, ‘Hey man, you’re doing a great job. My sons and I love watching you fight.’ And I was like, ‘Dude, this is so cool. I’m a huge fan,’” said Malott. “We’ve ended up hanging out a couple of times. He and his sons are great guys, just absolute beauties. I can’t say enough nice things about them.”

If Malott can send the Winnipeg crowd home happy with a win in April, his fan club will certainly grow in size.

He’s set to become the first Canadian-born fighter to appear in a UFC main event since Montreal’s Felicia Spencer lost a five-round decision to Amanda Nunes to close out UFC 250 on June 6, 2020.

Malott’s arm has been raised in his last three outings, while Burns, 39, has lost four straight to drop to 22-9-0 in his career.

The last time the octagon was seen around these parts was on Dec. 17, 2017, for UFC on FOX 26 headlined by Robbie Lawler and Rafael dos Anjos.

“Winnipeg is a great fight town. I have a bunch of friends who have fought here whether it be in the UFC, smaller MMA shows, or Muay Thai,” he said.

“‘I’m expecting some pretty solid energy from the fans. Everyone I’ve been talking to from here has been like, ‘Man, we’re all excited for these fights and we’re looking forward to them.’ And for me, I’m just expecting the best performance of my career.”

Malott’s already reached out to his younger brother to ensure he can arrive at the arena in style that night.

“Oh buddy, I got an old Jets jersey of his in my closet.”

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