VANCOUVER, Canada — Canadian welterweight Mike Malott says the UFC kept pushing him “outside my comfort zone” in every fight.
From his main event slot in the Contender Series ring to his promotional debut against Mickey Gall, Malott (9-1-1) has achieved a rapid rise in his short UFC career so far. That continues with UFC 289 this weekend, where Malott is on the Pay-Per-View main card against Adam Fugitt.
“It has continued to happen with all three of my experiences so far with the UFC. So far, I’m 3-0 with three first-round stops,” Malott said Wednesday in regards to his steep rise, speaking at UFC 289 media day. Is it a lot?” It sure hasn’t been yet, and I’m 100% sure it won’t be this week.
Asked by Cageside Press about the appeal his call for the UFC’s return to Canada had, after UFC Vegas 70 back in February (Malott and teammate Jasmine Jasudavicious both took the mic that night, calling for the promotion to return to Canadian soil), Malott simply said: “I’m glad we’re back,” he admits, “I heard that night they were actually coming back.”
No matter what got them here, “I’m excited to be back in Canada. It’s been years,” Malott added. “This has been a drama for me throughout my fighting career. Since before I fought professionally, I always wanted to fight in the UFC at home in Canada in front of only the wild Canadian fans. Everyone knows how Canadian fans get into UFC fights. We’re loud, we’re passionate, we’re really behind our fighters. I’m really excited to be doing a show for these guys.”
For a few weeks, it looked as if Malot might be the odd man out. His fight was one of the last to be announced at UFC 289 in Vancouver. And there was a fear that perhaps his dream would not come true, at least this time.
“There’s always fear, isn’t there? I didn’t have a fight booked and I was one of the late guys they put on the card. And I just started seeing the card full. Like they had a lot of fights before finally announcing my fight. I was worried I wasn’t going to continue.”
Malot’s manager tried to let him down so easily, telling him not to get his hopes up. Malot’s response was the opposite. “I’m like a friend, I’m getting my hopes up. Until June 9th, I’ll take everyone’s weight and have no opponent. I’ll fight on June 10th. I’ll get my hopes up as high as I want. I’ll be let down either way, so I might just get my hopes up and start focusing on that before.”
I don’t understand people who are like ‘I’m not all going to get excited.’ I’m like ‘Dude, I’m going to get really excited, if it doesn’t work out I’m going to be upset either way,’ Malott continued. ‘I’d rather get fun out of it in the first half. And it worked. We had that fight, and it took a while but I got a whole camp ready to get ready for this guy.”
A former Alpha Male coach, Malott holds a 100% finish rate in his nine wins as a pro. UFC 289 opponent Adam Fugit has an eight-win streak of his own. It seems obvious to say the fight won’t go far – but Malot certainly doesn’t think three rounds will be necessary.
“Of course not. I know I won this fight by stoppage. I got my 10th stoppage win Saturday night, 100%. I’d be 3-0 in the UFC with three stoppages, 4-0 with four stoppages if you count a series.” Contender, and in my career, ten wins with ten stops. That’s what’s going to happen on Saturday night.”
Watch the full UFC 289 media day appearance by Mike Malott above.