UFC Edmonton: Mike Malott knocks out Joaquin Buckley in round two

Mike Malott won the UFC Fight Night main event in Edmonton on Saturday 17 October, knocking out Joaquin Buckley at 2:32 of the second round. The Canadian welterweight dropped the American with a knee to the face and finished with a right hand. It was Malott's second UFC main event, scheduled for five five-minute rounds.

A perfectly timed knee

The first round was cautious. Malott worked body kicks and inside leg kicks, and Buckley answered with a right hook that knocked the Canadian off balance. Two of Sherdog's three scorers gave the round to the American. In the second, Buckley pressed forward to force the clinch. Malott turned him onto the fence and landed knees to the body. As they separated, Malott threw a knee just as Buckley stepped in: the American's mouthpiece flew out, he fell face first, and a right hand ended the fight.

Going in, Malott was 14-2-1, including 7-1 in the UFC. Buckley (21-8, 11-6 UFC) was ranked tenth at welterweight and is now winless in three fights. CBS Sports expects Malott to take that top 10 spot. After the fight, the Canadian asked for a ranked opponent from the top 10, ideally the top five.

Jasudavicius beats Blanchfield, rest of the card

In the women's flyweight co-main event, Canada's Jasmine Jasudavicius beat Erin Blanchfield of the United States by unanimous decision (29-28 on all three cards). She controlled most of the fight on the mat against an opponent who had been among the title contenders. The bout had been postponed from UFC 330. Jasudavicius was coming off a loss to France's Manon Fiorot.

On the main card, Cristian Pérez knocked out Kyle Nelson in 27 seconds and Canada's Marc-André Barriault stopped Kyle Daukaus in the first round. Quebec's Louis Jourdain was submitted by Timothy Cuamba in round two, and Mandel Nallo beat Nate Landwehr by TKO in the second. On the prelims, Tanner Boser, Nick Galanti, Joel Faglier, Katlyn Cerminara, Steven Koslow, Chelsea Chandler and Su Young You picked up wins.

According to CBS Sports, Malott now has five straight wins and Jasudavicius should move into the flyweight top five, although the result does not guarantee her a title shot. For Buckley, the knockout extends a poor run that is expected to push him out of the organisation's top 10 welterweights.