SUMMARY
- The first UFC PPV of 2024, UFC 297, takes place on January 20, 2024, in Canada.
- The biggest fight for the home crowd would be the welterweight fight between Ontario native Mike Malott against Neil Magny.
The first UFC PPV of 2024, UFC 297, takes place this weekend in Canada. There are two title fights on the card with UFC Middleweight champion Sean Strickland defending his title against Dricus du Plessis and Raquel Pennington taking Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant women’s bantamweight title. Also on the main card is a welterweight bout between Neil Magny and home favorite Mike Malott.
UFC 297 Fight week 🏆 🇨🇦
MAIN CARD
Sean Strickland (C) vs. Dricus Du Pleases middleweight title bout
Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva women’s bantamweight title bout (vacant)Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
Chris Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
Arnold Allen vs. Movsar… pic.twitter.com/RlKltp6WdY— MMA UNCENSORED (@MMAUNCENSORED1) January 14, 2024
The card has been unlucky with several scheduled fights being pushed for later. Initially, Alexander Volkanovski was going to defend his UFC Featherweight title against Ilia Topuria on UFC 297. That title fight was shifted to UFC 298. A light heavyweight bout between Jan Błachowicz and Aleksandar Rakić was also scrapped due to an injury to the latter.
However, the card is still a strong start to this milestone year for UFC. With UFC 300 just months away, the promotion is doing its best to make all the PPVs exciting. Let’s take a look at the stats and breakdown of the fight between Magny and Malott.
UFC 297: Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott stats
Stats | Neil Magny | Mike Malott |
---|---|---|
Wins | 28 | 10 |
Losses | 12 | 1 |
Height | 6 ft 3 in | 6 ft 1 in |
Division | Welterweight | Welterweight |
Reach | 80 in | 73 in |
Age | 36 | 32 |
Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott: Fight breakdown and prediction
Although the age difference between the two fighters is just four years, Magny and Malott have a huge difference in pro-MMA fight experience. Magny has fought 39 pro-MMA bouts impressively winning 28 of them. 11 of those wins have come via stoppage. ‘The Haitian Sentation’ has been in the UFC’s welterweight division for over a decade but he never made it to the big fights.
On the other hand, Malott made his MMA debut in 2011 and won four consecutive fights. He joined the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series. Malott has defeated Mickey Gall, Yohan Lainesse, and Adam Fugitt in his short UFC career. His fight against Magny could be the boost he is looking for to up his ranks.
He knows how important this match is for his career. In an interview with MMA Fighting in November, he said, “This is the biggest opportunity of my fight career and I think I’ve done a really good job throughout my career of having the best performances when there’s the most on the line. So I’m expecting this to be the best performance of my career so far.”
This is probably the most important match for the home crowd. The Ontario native Malott will be hoping to deliver in front of his home fans. Mike ‘Proper’ Malott is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, meanwhile, Neil ‘The Haitian Sensation’ Magny is a brown belt. ‘Proper’ would be hoping to overpower the grappling exchanges to win the encounter.
Mike Malott is 10-1-1 with a 100% stoppage rate and he will be facing Neil Magny on the main card this weekend at UFC 297 in Toronto.#UFC297 #UFC #MMA #Canada pic.twitter.com/IjxRr7AL06
— OddSmokerSteve (@OddSmokerSteve) January 15, 2024
Magny, on the other hand, is expected to try and roll back the years to pull off a win. In his last fight, he was defeated by Irish fighter Ian Garry at UFC 292. On the other hand, Malott made Adam Fugitt submit at UFC 289.