Mike Malott virtually had a profession excessive spoiled by some unlucky fouls within the UFC Vancouver co-main occasion.
The top results of Saturday’s welterweight matchup between Malott and Kevin Holland was a convincing determination win for Malott, muddled solely by a pair of low blows within the opening spherical that threatened to prematurely finish the struggle. Thankfully for Malott, regardless of Holland reacting to one of many low pictures by dropping to the mat in ache, Holland was in a position to proceed preventing and the bout went the space.
It’s unclear whether or not Malott would have been disqualified or if the bout would have been dominated a no-contest or if another surprising end result might have occurred if Holland determined he might not struggle. All Malott might do was wait on the opposite finish of the cage whereas Holland recovered and he admits the scenario appeared bleak for a second.
“The one factor that had me involved was after they introduced the physician in and the physician turned to the ref and the physician’s like, ‘[Holland’s] not giving me definitive reply,’” Malott mentioned on the night’s post-fight press convention. “I used to be like, ‘No, come on. Don’t. Due to that? No method, man.’ I didn’t suppose that was a foul shot. OK, brushed the cup, I’m certain it damage, it doesn’t really feel nice, however come on, man, no method. Please don’t let this be the explanation this ends. We’re going to should run this again due to a groin shot? Get out of right here.
“Fortunately, he’s a gamer. He’s robust. He’s all the way down to hold going, so good on him for persevering with.”
Holland’s toughness was not rewarded as he went on to lose his third struggle in 2025. He was making his fifth octagon look this yr and his ninth in 19 months, a powerful stretch of exercise. It ought to come as no shock Holland was keen to shake off the low blow to maintain the motion shifting.
Requested the place his head was at throughout the prolonged break, Malott was doing his finest to remain on job whereas replaying the alleged fouls in his head.
“I used to be simply targeted on the struggle,” Malott mentioned. “OK, hold shifting round just a little bit, don’t get too chilly, don’t get too hyped and pissed off at stuff which you could’t management. We each threw kicks on the similar time and certainly one of mine went low first after which that second one, my knee hit him within the hip. My shin I believe brushed his cup. I’ve bought to look at it again, possibly I’m loopy, however I swear my knee hit him within the hip like proper above the beltline there. He’s simply so tall, it’s exhausting, dude’s all limbs. His hips are so excessive it’s exhausting to get that knee up, so I’m certain my shin did hit him within the groin, and I guess it damage, I don’t suppose he was being dramatic. I’m certain it was bugging him.
“A little bit of an odd one, however alright, that occurred, you’ll be able to’t management it, there’s 10 straight minutes, let’s simply get again to it and reset it and refocus and my coaches did job of simply being like, ‘Look, don’t fear about that. You’re most likely down one. Let’s modify. Let’s do that, do that, get on the market and go win this struggle, you solely have 10 minutes to do it,’ and it felt good on the market.”
Malott is now 6-1 within the UFC, with three straight wins since a disappointing collapse towards Neil Magny at UFC 297 in Toronto. The 33-year-old Canadian constructed appreciable buzz by ending his first three UFC opponents and whereas he’d like to have added Holland to his spotlight reel, he wasn’t going to drive the problem, even when Holland was severely compromised by the low blows.
“He’s like a chaotic man,” Malott mentioned. “Is he doing that as a result of he needs me to hurry in and do one thing silly and he’s going to tear a proper hand or one thing like that and try to knock me out? Is he taking part in possum? Can he simply not proceed? I don’t know. Perhaps I ought to have simply gotten on him just a little bit extra however no matter, hindsight’s 20/20.”
