Who is Mike Malott? Everything you need to know about Neil Magny's UFC 297 opponent
Mike Malott, a Canadian mixed martial artist born on Nov. 7, 1991, stands at 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) tall, making him above average in terms of height relative to his divisional peers. He competes in the welterweight division, weighing in below 171 pounds for his fights.
Before signing with the UFC, Malott competed in a variety of promotions, both large and small. He began his professional career in 2011 at the Extreme Cage Combat (ECC) promotion, winning via an armbar submission in the first round. He has also competed in WSOF, SCC, XFFC, and Bellator before joining the UFC in 2022.
'Proper' earned his UFC contract by submitting Shimon Smotrisky via guillotine choke in 'Dana White's Contender Series'. Malott quickly rose through the ranks of the UFC welterweight division, beating Mickey Gall, Yohan Lainesse, and Adam Fugitt, all via stoppage over the course of 14 months.
For his next fight, the welterweight is set to face the veteran Neil Magny at UFC 297 this weekend at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.
While he was born and raised in Canada, he now trains in Sacramento, California, under the tutelage of Urijah Faber at Team Alpha Male. When asked about where he grew up relative to this Saturday's pay-per-view venue on The Anik and Florian Podcast, Malott said:
''It's the the Scotia Bank AR Arena now but all my friends and everyone in the area that's watching this knows it as the ACC - The Air Canada Center.''
Malott continued:
''When I was a kid, that was the best day of the year when my dad would come home and say, Put the homework down. You're not going after school activities. I got tickets from work. We're going to watch the Leafs play. So this has been like the arena of my entire life, the ACC.''
Catch Mike Malott's comments below (1.07.37):
Mike Malott doesn't care about fellow UFC welterweight's ongoing drama
Mike Malott is not bothered by the ongoing drama involving Ian Garry and isn't a fan of fighters crossing the line pre-fight in the name of promotion.
Garry has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past few weeks, drawing ire and criticism from many of his peers. He was subsequently forced to withdraw from his bout against Vicente Luque at UFC 296, only adding to the Irishman's problems.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA, Malott weighed in on the situation, saying:
''I don't care what he's going through...These kind of new age fighters where they say stuff, they say some things that are personal that cross the line and then the fights over and they hug a guy and say 'Oh I was just saying it to sell tickets.' Just because you're doing something for money doesn't mean it's okay. Some of these things affect people's lives outside of the cage."
Catch Mike Malott's comments below (15:05):