UFC 297 Takeaways: Malott’s loss reminiscent of another Canadian heartbreaker

TORONTO -- They are different fighters under different circumstances who competed in different eras. Still, I couldn’t help but hearken back to Rory MacDonald’s second UFC appearance back in 2010 while watching Mike Malott suffer his first loss in nine years Saturday night at UFC 297.

MacDonald was thrown into the welterweight division’s deep end just five months after making a successful UFC debut. The Canadian, who was only 20 years old at the time, was matched with former WEC champion Carlos Condit in a featured main card bout when the UFC made its debut in Vancouver.

The Quesnel, B.C., native was fighting in his home province and opened the pay-per-view portion of UFC 115 with the pressure of a nation on his shoulders. He had handled himself with maturity beyond his years during fight week and had been ahead for much of the action before the veteran Condit turn the tide and finished the fight with seven seconds remaining in the final round after delivering a slew of nasty ground-and-pound strikes that caused MacDonald’s face to severely swell.

Malott’s face didn’t look any worse for wear following UFC 297, however the way he lost to Neil Magny was similarly heartbreaking.

The 32-year-old Burlington, Ont., resident was a composed star all fight week, riding high off the momentum of three consecutive stoppage victories in the UFC.

Malott was dominating the first two-thirds of the 170-pound clash. The sellout crowd at Scotiabank Arena went into a brief frenzy when it looked like Malott had locked in a guillotine choke. Magny, who holds the records for most wins in the UFC welterweight division, shrugged off the submission attempt and went to work knowing he needed a finish if he wanted to win.

Magny never reached the heights Condit did – ironically he does hold a wins over Condit – but he is still worthy of his top-15 ranking. He landed 52 significant head strikes on Malott in the fight, 44 of which occurred in the final round and the beating was enough for the referee to call a stop to the fight with only 15 seconds left before the final horn would’ve sounded and Malott could’ve escaped with a draw or a narrow decision win.

Now, Malott’s career trajectory is completely different than MacDonald’s was, but perhaps Malott can take inspiration from the fact MacDonald rebounded from the loss by winning eight of his next nine and earning a title shot.

UFC IN SOUTH AFRICA WOULD BE ‘A VIBE’ 

Now that Africa has another UFC champion, could the Octagon make its debut on the continent at some point later this year?

“(Du Plessis) absolutely positively can be the guy,” UFC president Dana White said when asked if the new middleweight champ is befitting of headlining the UFC’s inaugural event in Africa. “Dricus wins tonight, wins the title, and I’ve been talking about Africa and maybe we start looking at South Africa and start looking at arenas and possibly doing a fight down there this year.”

Du Plessis asked his corner to toss him his nation’s flag during his post-fight interview so he could drape it around his shoulders and complete his wardrobe with the new, shiny championship belt around his waist as the centrepiece.

“I think we've worked our asses off to get this event to Africa and South Africa and it's time that happens,” said Du Plessis who was sporting many lumps after eating 157 significant head strikes courtesy of Strickland. “There's one thing about South Africa, if the UFC goes there the world is going to see: You have never seen a vibe when it comes to a sport like South Africa.”

The UFC was unable to set up an event on the continent when the organization had three African champions: Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman of Nigeria and Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou.

Adesanya, who announced following his UFC 293 loss to Strickland he had planned on taking some time away from the sport, teased his returned to the cage mere hours after the new 185-pound king was crowned.

A Du Plessis vs. Adesanya championship scrap in Africa would undoubtedly be one of the most consequential fights the UFC could put together from both a competitive and business perspective.

ALLEN STILL A FACTOR AT 145 DESPITE ANOTHER LOSS

If it’s possible for a fighter’s stock to increase in value following two consecutive losses, featherweight Arnold Allen is a solid candidate to make that claim.

The Englishman who trains out of the Tristar Gym in Montreal lost a fun five-round main event to former champion Max Holloway in April 2023 and narrowly lost a three-rounder to Movsar Evloev on the UFC 297 main card.

All three judges scored the first two rounds in favour of the Russian who is now 18-0 and closing in on a featherweight title shot.

Allen’s best work came in the final round. Unfortunately, his momentum, and the fight, was disrupted after Allen connected on multiple damaging knees from a front headlock position while Evloev was technically a downed opponent, which rendered the strikes illegal.

Evloev’s fingers grazed the canvas when the knee landed and since Ontario’s sanctioned MMA rules still consider a fighter grounded when there are three points of contact. More modern rulesets consider a fighter down when a hand is on the mat in a weight-bearing manner. That’s why many onlookers thought it was unfortunate or unfair result for Allen.

Referee Marc Goddard, unanimously considered one of the best in the sport, mediated the match and provided additional context in a response to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi after the event.

For clarity, Goddard corrected himself in a follow-up tweet that he meant “deduction,” not “dedication.”

Allen entered the event the No. 4-ranked contender at 145 pounds. Naturally, we can expect Evloev to take Allen’s spot in the top five but a win in his next outing puts Arnold right back in title contention. He is well-rounded, we know he can push the pace for 25 minutes like he did against Holloway, he has never been finished and is firmly in his prime as he turns 30 on Monday.

STRICKLAND NOW AN HONOURARY CANADIAN

The Toronto fan base embraced Sean Strickland as one of their own as soon as the brash American touched down in Canada and immediately began bashing aspects of the country and its unpopular politicians.

Strickland made international headlines by verbally berating a reporter at media day, he stole the show at a wild press conference that matched or even surpassed the intense energy he brought, and then he left it all in the cage in a Fight of the Night main event split decision many thought could’ve or should’ve went Strickland’s way.

“Canada I (expletive) love you guys,” Strickland told the fans after losing the title he won in September. “I told you I would bleed for you and I bled for you.”

The UFC has now hosted seven events in Toronto since MMA was legalized in Ontario in 2011 and each time Dana White and his well-oiled machine come to town it delivers something memorable.

In recent years the promotion has developed a knack for using international stars to headline Toronto events and win the crowd.

UFC 129 was different because it was the first one, a unique stadium event headlined by Georges St-Pierre.

The UFC’s first three events at Scotiabank Arena (formerly Air Canada Centre) were headlined by Jon Jones at the height of his dominance in the 205-pound division. First, he coldly dispatched of Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 in 2011, then added Vitor Belfort’s scalp to his collection in 2012 before his instant classic with Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 in 2013.

The Toronto fans didn’t embrace the polarizing Jones quite the way they did Max Holloway who headlined UFC 206 against Anthony Pettis in 2016 and UFC 231 versus Brian Ortega in 2018. Holloway has also headlined events in Edmonton and Saskatoon during his UFC career and frequently said how much he loves Canada and its fans.

If the UFC wants to guarantee a positive response to any future fight card in Toronto, in 2025 or beyond, they should make a concerted effort to put both Strickland and Holloway on the poster.