Welterweights
Mike Malott (8-1-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. Yohan Lainesse (9-1, 1-1 UFC)Welterweights collide here in some intriguing Canadian-on-Canadian violence. Malott is a hard prospect to peg, as beyond his relatively inactive career—he has fought at a pace of less than one fight per year since his 2011 pro debut—he is not particularly consistent even within those fights. “Proper” possesses some clear athleticism and skill, but he mostly finds his wins as an opportunist. He was getting obliterated by Solomon Renfro in 2020 before finding a sudden rear-naked choke, and he was clearly losing his UFC debut to Mickey Gall in April until he managed to obliterate the New Jersey native with a counter left hook. Malott’s game does not work up until the point that it suddenly does, so who knows how that matches up with Lainesse. Quebec’s “White Lion” is a relatively straight-ahead slugger for better or for worse. He landed his own brutal counter left hook to earn a contract against Justin Burlinson on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 but gassed and got finished by Gabriel Green in his UFC debut before splitting the difference against Darian Weeks in September, banking enough early offense to coast to a rough decision win. Lainesse should be able to ride another hot start and packs enough power that he could simply find an early knockout, but he will also present plenty of opportunities for Malott to turn things around, assuming he can survive the early going. This is essentially a toss-up. The pick is Malott via second-round submission.
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Krylov vs. Spann
Muniz vs. Allen
Sakai vs. Mayes
Suarez vs. De La Rosa
Malott vs. Lainesse
Peek vs. Gonzalez
The Prelims