UFC 273: Who is Mike Malott?

Get to know Canadian featherweight prospect, Mike Malott, ahead of his UFC debut.

Mike Malott will make his UFC debut Saturday night when he enters the Octagon against Mickey Gall as part of the UFC 273 prelims, which will be simulcast at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT exclusively on ESPN and ESPN+ from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, FL.

Malott enters the promotion on a three-fight win streak and brings in a 7-1-1 record into the featherweight division. He is primarily a submission expert, as four of his seven wins have come in various forms: guillotine, tap due to strikes, and rear-naked choke.

Malott punched his ticket to the UFC by earning a contract as part of Dana White’s Contender Series during the show’s sixth week of season four. He defeated Shimon Smotritsky just 39 seconds into the opening round, which impressed the UFC president enough to give him a shot at the next level of MMA.

Who is Mickey Gall?

Gall has been with the UFC since 2016 and is known as one of the first fighters that Dana White ever signed from his YouTube series Dana White: Lookin’ For a Fight. Gall has competed against the likes of Phil Brooks (aka CM Punk) and Sage Northcutt, to name a few, which made him one of the hottest prospects in MMA at the time. However, Gall has been inconsistent inside the Octagon and has struggled to find a rhythm since then. Gall is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Alex Morono in Dec. 2021.

Something has to give, as a victory for Gall will put him back on his winning ways while a Malott win gets his UFC going on the right foot.

UFC 273: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Korean Zombie takes place on Saturday, April 9, 2022, live from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, FL. Follow along with FanSided MMA for all your news and highlights.