Winnipeg, MB — It was a rough start for Canada at Saturday’s UFC Winnipeg, but by the end of the night, fans at the Canada Life Centre had plenty to cheer about. And sing about.
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.