It was a bad night for Canadian MMA at UFC 297, with Malott’s shocking last minute disintegration against Neil Magny being the cherry on top of a s— sundae.
UFC 297 was the promotion’s first event in Toronto in over five years, but the return was marred as Canadian fighters went 2-7 across the night. Every single male Canadian took an L, including Great Canadian Hope Mike Malott.
Malott came into the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series and built a 3-0 record (all stoppages) en route to his date with destiny in Toronto. Standing in his way: the always tough Neil Magny. Through two and a half rounds, Malott seemed like he had the fight in hand. He methodically kicked Magny’s leg out from under him and was controlling the pace of the fight … until he went for a guillotine choke in the dying moments of the third round.
All of a sudden, everything seemed to go horribly wrong. Magny slipped out of the choke, went from half to mount with ease, and started raining down punches on Malott. The referee was forced the stop the bout at 4:45 (watch the finish here). The Canadian was 15 seconds away from a career-defining win. Instead, he found himself unable to get off the canvas for minutes after the fight. His corner had to carry him out of the cage, still stunned.
Mike Malott’s response to his TKO loss at #UFC297, via his Instagram pic.twitter.com/7ssXjf3i9d
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) January 21, 2024
Malott took to social media after the loss, and was clearly emotional about how things had gone.
“Hey guys, I’m all right. I tried my best, I’m really sorry,” he said. “I hope … I’m gonna make you guys proud. I’m a little disappointed but…. I felt really good this camp, no excuses man, I felt really good. I felt good in the fight. I just wasn’t good enough tonight, so. I’m gonna have to make some improvements but I’m so, so touched by all the support I’ve gotten by all the fans. It really means a lot to me.”
“I love you guys. I wanna do my country proud,” he added. “Thank you to my friends and family, my team, sponsors, and everybody who has supported me. I’ll be back. I’ll make you guys proud again. Thank you.”
This feels like one of those fights a fighter had to win to go from up-and-coming prospect to full blown rising contender. Malott’s going to have to come back hard to erase the memory of this one from the memory banks. But hey, even Georges St-Pierre had the Matt Serra incident.
Maybe to fumble is the most Canadian thing. It’s how you pick yourself up and dust yourself off that matters. Let’s all keep that in mind after UFC 297, eh?