Mike Malott happy to headline a UFC in Canada, but there is no 'Rush' to replace Georges St-Pierre
Maybe he’s not the next GSP, but if any of the past five shows he’s been on in Canada have told us anything, it’s that Mike Malott will get a proper reception when the lights go down in Manitoba.
Mike Malott (13-2-1) headlines UFC Winnipeg on Saturday against former welterweight title contender Gilbert Burns (22-9) Cooper Neill via Getty Images During a three-year stretch from 2010-13, starting at UFC 83 when he took back the welterweight title from Matt Hughes, Canada’s great champion Georges St-Pierre fought four consecutive fights in his home country. GSP effectively turned Canada into the hottest market in MMA during that time. At UFC 129, over 55,000 people filled the Rogers Centre to see St-Pierre defend his title against Jake Shields, which smashed the attendance record.
The love Canada showed to GSP was so dedicated, so utterly rabid that Dana White famously quipped that he’d take the UFC to the “Great North” every weekend if he could. Yet since GSP retired in 2017 there’s been an organic, if un- Rush ed search for the one to carry Canada’s hearts into the cage. Rory MacDonald, GSP’s young apprentice at Tri-Star in Montreal, had a good career, but he never snapped up the mantle.
T. J. Grant disappeared from fighting at the moment he arrived to a title shot, and was last known to be working the potash mines in Saskatchewan.
Jasmine Jasudavicius has done a fine job representing the Maple Leaf, but she falls more into the Patrick Cote “friend zone” with her country. Then there’s Mike Malott, who will fight for the sixth consecutive time in Canada on Saturday when he faces veteran Gilbert Burns in Winnipeg. The 34-year-old Malott is not a champion, and in fact he’s not even currently ranked, yet he’s 6-1 since coming off Contender Series in 2021, and the love he receives in Canada is warm enough for the UFC to keep booking him there.
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