Jacksonville, Fla. – Canadian welterweight (prop) Mike Malott won his UFC debut on Saturday, knocking out American Mickey Gall in the first round of the UFC 273 undercard.
Gaul is greeted with the utterance “USA, USA” as both fighters land strikes early. Within two minutes of the match, Malt shook the gall with a strong right hand.
Gall took Malt down but the Canadian got up again, though bleeding from his nose. But as Gaul came forward, Malt attached to the right side of the ear and then dropped him with the counter to the left of his chin and continued to punch until referee Larry Falsom arrived at 3:41.
Malt, a 30-year-old man who grew up in Waterdown, Ant.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment since 2005,” Malott said, referring to when he started MMA training. “I’m working on it. I’ve been in focus. And I’m glad it worked.
“I was a kid in Waterdown, Ontario, Canada. I’m going to do it without any proof of my stubborn dream of fighting in this cage.”
Malott (8-1-1) earned his UFC contract in the Dana White rival series in October with a 39-second deposit win.
Malott moved to Sacramento seven years ago to train with Team Alpha Mail but spent most of the camp in Ontario with the Niagara Top Team in St. Catherine, Onte, his training base.
Malott said he was going to donate 10,000 10,000, half of his purse, to coach Joe Rodriguez Jr., whose 15-year-old daughter Angie has been diagnosed with cancer.
In the main event at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, the Korean zombie against Australian featherweight champion Alexander (the Great) Volkanowski, the 4th of 135-pounders, whose real name is Chan Sung Jung.
Bantamweight champion Aljamin (funk master) Sterling will face interim title holder and former champion Peter (No Mercy) Ian of Russia in the main event.
The 30-year-old Gaul (7-5-0) was on the verge of losing to Alex (The Great White) Morono in December which dropped his UFC record to 6-4-0. He has won his first three fights in the campaign, including a win against the highly promising Sage Northcut, but has since gone 3-5-0.
Malt drew the attention of the UFC by sending Israel’s Shimon (assassin) Smotritsky via guillotine choke for the second fastest submission in the six-season history of Dana White’s rival series. The TV show, held at the UFC’s Apex Production Facility in Las Vegas, allows fighters to influence the UFC president – and possibly win a UFC deal.
Malt is not accustomed to long fights. He has only had to cross the first round once – in the 2015 draw with Thomas Dygan of France in ballet action.
His other nine fights lasted 15 minutes and seven seconds.
Malt is not the only athlete in the family.
Younger brother Jeff is a winger at the Winnipeg Jets. Jeff, 25, the older of the six-foot-three and 204-pound brothers, made his NHL regular-season debut with a 6-4 win in Chicago on March 20.
Jeff Malott, who joined the Colonel, has scored 21 goals, 15 assists and 49 penalty minutes in 54 games for AHL Manitoba Moose this season.
Malt started as a feather (145 lbs) but is now fighting in the welterweight (170).