UFC welterweight contender Mike Malott was praised by UFC president Dana White following his big knockout win at UFC Edmonton.
Malott knocked out Joaquin Buckley with a brutal knee in the second round of their UFC Edmonton main event. With the victory, the Canadian moved to 8-1 overall in the UFC, and he is currently riding a five-fight win streak. By taking out Buckley, who was ranked No. 8 in the Meta UFC Rankings, Malott will now enter the top-10 rankings in the UFC welterweight division.
Dana White Praises Mike Malott After UFC Edmonton
Speaking to reporters after UFC Edmonton, White heaped praise upon Malott for his incredible knockout win over Buckley in the main event of the evening.
“Obviously, for Mike to be the main event here in a big fight in his home country, that’s the way you want to get it done. I mean, you couldn’t do it any better than that,” White said.
Who Will Mike Malott Fight Next?
After beating Buckley by knockout, Malott will surely be in line to fight someone ranked in the top 10 at 170 lbs.
One potential option could be former UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, whom Malott admitted interest in fighting next when asked about Della Maddalena as a potential opponent at the UFC Edmonton post-fight press conference.
Della Maddalena is coming off back-to-back losses against Islam Makhachev and Carlos Prates in his last two fights, but those are arguably the top two fighters in the weight class, so there is no shame in losing to either of them.
Another potential opponent for Malott could be Belal Muhammad, another former UFC welterweight champion who has lost three fights in a row.
But despite losing three straight fights, Muhammad is one of the top-10 ranked fighters in the weight class and would, in theory, represent a step up in competition for Malott, who is due to fight someone in the top 10.
Either way, it seems clear that Malott is in the good graces of the UFC right now based on White’s comments, which means he should get ready for a top-10 opponent next.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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