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Michael Malott (born November 7, 1991) is a Canadian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. He currently fights for UFC. In the past he has competed for the WSOF, Bellator MMA and Cage Fury Fighting Championships.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Mike Malott started training at House of Champions in Stoney Creek, Ontario with Kru Alin Halmagean when he was 17 years old.
Malott went to post-secondary education at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and trained at Titans MMA while on the east coast. During his time at university Malott took his first professional MMA fight at ECC 12: Rage against James Saunders winning by submission in the first round.
After winning his first four professional fights, Malott suffered his first loss against Hakeem Dawodu in 2014 and his following match-up went to a majority draw against Ousmane Thomas Diagne in 2015. Malott took his next bout in 2017 against Craig Shintani for the vacant XFFC Lightweight Championship. He won the bout via knockout in 36 seconds.
Malott took an extended hiatus from competing in mixed martial arts at the end of 2017. Instead, he focused on his grappling skills competing in many BJJ super fights and earning his black belt. At this time he also began coaching striking at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. During his time there he cornered many UFC fighters including Urijah Faber and Cody Garbrandt.
After a three-year hiatus, Malott returned to MMA in December 2020 for Cage Fury 91 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. He won the bout against Solomon Renfro in the first round.
After his win over Renfro, Malott earned a spot on season 5 of Dana White's Contender Series and was scheduled against Shimon Smotritsky. Malott beat Smotritsky with a guillotine choke submission in the first round and was awarded a UFC contract by Dana White.