Mike Malott knocked out Joaquin Buckley with a knee at 2:32 of round two on Saturday, October 17 in Edmonton.
It was Malott fifth straight win, and Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius also won on the card, beating Erin Blanchfield by unanimous decision in the co main event.
A Knee Ends The Main Event In Round Two
Mike Malott did not need the judges in his home country main event. At 2:32 of round two, a knee knocked out Joaquin Buckley and closed UFC Fight Night at Rogers Place in Edmonton with the finish the Canadian crowd came to see. Malott, from Waterdown, Ontario, was fighting in Canada in his second UFC main event, and he delivered the kind of result that changes how a fighter gets matched next. A main event knockout is different from a main event decision. It gives the promotion a highlight, the fans a moment, and the fighter a claim that his next booking should be bigger than his last one.
“I’m on top of the world right now man; this is incredible. I asked my coaches, ‘That happened for real, right? I’m not about to wake up and it’s fight morning and I just dreamed that? This is real?'” Mike Malott, postfight interview, published by SuperSport
The win was Malott fifth in a row, moving him to 15-2-1 in the reports of the fight, with Buckley falling to 21-9 after a third straight loss. Streaks in the welterweight division are hard to build because the depth of the division punishes any off night, and five straight wins with a main event knockout at the end of the run is a serious statement. Buckley is a known finisher himself, which is why the matchup headlined the card. Malott did not survive a dangerous opponent. He finished him, in the second round, with one clean knee.
Two Canadians Win At The Top Of The Card
The co main event made it a Canadian double at the top of the bill. Jasmine Jasudavicius beat Erin Blanchfield by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three scorecards, a close and clear win over a respected opponent. Where Malott won with one explosive moment, Jasudavicius won by taking two rounds on every card, the kind of consistent performance that travels well when the next fight is booked outside Canada. Edmonton fans arrived for one Canadian headliner and got two Canadian wins in the two biggest fights of the night, which is the best possible outcome for a UFC visit to a Canadian city.
The card as a whole was built for finishes. Reports put the night at 12 finishes in 13 bouts, an unusually violent card even by UFC standards, and Malott earned a 100,000 dollar performance bonus in the reporting by Scores and Stats. Marc-Andre Barriault, Mandel Nallo and Joel Faglier also earned bonuses in that report, which spreads the Canadian success beyond the top two fights. When a card produces that many finishes, the main event can get lost in the noise. Malott made sure it did not, by producing the last and loudest finish of the night.
Edmonton had a second sporting headline the same Saturday, with Connor McDavid recording five points for the Oilers in Salt Lake City, and the rest of the Canadian Saturday slate included Cole Caufield overtime winner in Montreal. Malott night stands apart from both because it happened in the building. Rogers Place fans did not have to watch a Canadian star on a road broadcast. They watched a Canadian welterweight knock out his opponent in their arena, in a main event built around him.
What A Home Country Knockout Does Next
A win like this does three things for Malott. First, it extends a five fight win streak with a finish, which is the combination matchmakers reward fastest. Second, it proves he can carry a main event in Canada commercially and competitively, selling the building and then closing the show, which makes him valuable to the UFC when it books its next Canadian dates. Third, it gives him a signature highlight. Casual fans remember one strike more than they remember a record line, and a knee knockout in a main event is the kind of clip that follows a fighter into every future broadcast package and every future opponent introduction.
For Buckley, a third straight loss after a knockout defeat is a hard reset. He remains a dangerous and entertaining welterweight, but momentum in this division is unforgiving, and he will likely need a win in his next outing to stop the slide from becoming the story of his career at this level. That contrast is the nature of a main event. One fighter leaves Edmonton with a bonus, a streak and a bigger next fight. The other leaves with questions. On Saturday night in Alberta, the fighter who left with everything was the Canadian, and he left no doubt about the result.
By The Numbers
- Result: Mike Malott def. Joaquin Buckley by knockout, knee, round two at 2:32
- Venue: Rogers Place, Edmonton, UFC Fight Night, Saturday, October 17
- Malott streak: fifth straight win; records reported as Malott 15-2-1, Buckley 21-9
- Co main event: Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Erin Blanchfield by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards
- Card finishes: 12 finishes in 13 bouts, per multiple reports
- Bonus: Malott earned a 100,000 dollar performance bonus, per Scores and Stats
Canadian fight nights live or die on whether the home fighters win at the top of the card. Edmonton got the best version. Jasudavicius won a clear decision in the co main event, and Malott knocked out Buckley with a knee in the second round of the main event, in front of a Rogers Place crowd that came to see exactly that. Five straight wins, a performance bonus and a home country highlight is a complete night for a fighter, and it is the night Malott will be measured against when his next main event gets announced.
