Mike Malott speaks with members of the media following his victory at UFC 289: Nunes vs Aldana in Vancouver. Subscribe to get …
foreign so what do you guys want to talk about uh that fantastic performance just walk us through the fight I know you said you were gonna finish him no notes in your mind did you expect it to happen earlier later how to go relative to your game plan I was oddly excited when I heard I think it was his Corner that said 15 seconds left when I got the takedown I was planning on doing more on top but I heard there’s 15 seconds left it’s like okay I’ll I’ll land a shot or two on top and just kind of solidify position but I was like oh damn like we’re going to a second round nice like I’m probably not gonna pass and get a submission in the last 10 seconds so I thought that was kind of cool um kind of felt like uh just trying to treat it like individual fights you know just like okay I won the first fight now the second round is a completely different thing you can’t you can’t you know wait on any of the success from last time just treat it like a new fight win this fight and then if it goes to the third win the third fight unless we’re able to stop him and uh yeah I got that stoppage man I was so happy to get that stoppage dude he’s good man he’s really good he wasn’t getting any love or any attention this week or like nobody was was giving that guy a shot I watched him I’m like okay he got thrown to a tough opponent on nine days notice for his debut and he was winning that fight until he got you know caught it kind of gassed and got caught like the guy took the fight on nine days notice and then he beat like another killer in his next fight I’m like this is they’re not like this guy isn’t the can that everyone thinks he has you know a bunch of people are saying like oh I have no idea who this guy is they’re just you know what you know kind of almost treating it like I’m supposed to walk through this guy which is a little bit of pressure I’m like dude this is not a guy you just walk through this guy’s good so good Striker good wrestler good Grappler just had to tell myself you know I’ve put in all the preparation I’m I’m Elite everywhere as well and I think I can beat this guy anywhere and I felt like I showed I I beat him everywhere you know he’s he’s a wrestler DC was through DCU in the broadcast interview he’s like all over the sky oh he’s a wrestler man you see him on top what are you gonna do when he gets on top of you I’m like what do you mean when he gets on top of me like he’s gonna have to take me down first like it’s not a guaranteed thing this guy’s gonna wrestle me I can wrestle too dude so uh that was so funny I mean it’s like you know wrestlers stick with wrestlers a bunch so there’s there’s some you know common love there from from them I’m sure but uh yeah that was fun I thought that was funny I have to ask about the walkout the barrier collapsing nearly falling on you um how much were you like noticing what exactly happened at that moment because you’re obviously very focused on the walkout in the fight did you realize like how crazy that whole moment was I noticed it for like a quarter of a second it fell I kind of like jumped to the side stepped over the gate I was like one that sucks for them two don’t think about it stay focused and like immediately forgot about it afterwards I didn’t remember it happened until one of our cornermen brought up the video because one of my cornermen the gate fell on him like hit him in the hip yeah he’s all right he’s all right but I was like oh I didn’t realize like I don’t know it just it kind of I’d have you know had bigger fish to fry the biggest fight in my life in front of me I was focused on that but like man that would have been a shitty way for that fight to not have happened they get fall on your knee and just like on your way to the hospital or something like that would have sucked uh just lost for me as you’re watching that card unfold and you’re seeing Canadian win Canadian when Canadian win is the pressure building up knowing that you’re going to be lost and you’re like man I can’t be the the only one to let the fans down here I gotta complete the sweep so I had visualized every scenario heading up to this fight ones where all the Canadians won how does that pressure feel or how do I feel about that ones where all the Canadians lose how do I feel about that once where some of my teammates win and some don’t or it’s a mix like how do I how do I feel going into that and uh I think I did a pretty good job of letting go of you know being obviously super proud of how the Canadians held themselves today like we really held the fort down man that was incredible but I was like look I can look at this as as my mental Coach Danny Patterson would say pressure’s a perspective so I could you know I could have viewed that as like well I have to be the one to win I can’t be the one to ruin the night which clearly there’s a little bit of that but you know had it been the other way where everyone lost it’s like dude I definitely can’t lose and and let Canada Canada lose all of its fights like I gotta you know somebody’s got to win and and uh you know could you could have viewed that as as pressure but I was like you know what everyone’s done super well the fans are warmed up no pressure man this is this isn’t pressure this is privilege I get to fight in front of Canadians in Canada on the world stage this is there’s nothing to feel pressure about I’m so privileged just kind of like take a moment they’re like we’re back for you in five minutes and just kind of like as corny as it is like look myself in the mirror and before I walk out and just be like hey man forget results I’m proud I’m proud of you I’m proud of myself like looking in the mirror just like you know you’re here you want to do this since you were a little kid since you’re like 13 years old you’ve wanted to do this and uh you made it happen so just go have fun enjoy yourself take all this in be present don’t zone out don’t you know don’t don’t let the pressure get to you but enjoy this man this is a once in a lifetime opportunity this is truly an amazing night Michael farrier uh Andre feely tweeted um you’re the next GSP and he refers to as the Canadian Connor so I guess what does what did the UFC have in you moving forward like what do you think they can you’re the one that’ll spearhead this next wave of Canadian Superstars number one shout out to Andre feely I love you brother um number two I’m not the next GSP no there will never be another GSP gsp’s the greatest of all time he’s truly a legend I could never replace that man clearly like I’m nowhere near his accolades like the guy’s got you know triple the title defenses that I have wins in the UFC so let’s you know definitely no way I’m compare myself to him and I don’t want to be the next George Saint Pierre I want to be the first Mike Malott I love I love how I fight I love my style it’s completely different from his but I take so much inspiration from him I had a GSP GSP poster in my room as a kid and and idolized that man and you know one of my corner men told me he was watching and he was there and he you know stood up and was you know celebrating when I won I’m like dude that’s so sick like that’s George Saint Pierre dude um yeah um I don’t know what the rest of the question was but I hope I answered it he referred to as the Canadian Connor Canadian Connor oh man you know I’m I’m not I don’t feel like I’m a lot like him either again I’m the first Mike I I’ve been saying I’ve been saying I’m getting that 10th stoppage you know people call him Mystic Mac and uh you know I I told my coaches I’m like I’m getting that stoppage and these are the ways it’s gonna likely happen and and uh and one of my coaches Chris Prickett said something he’s like oh Mystic Mike you predicted it I’m like no man the and the thing I’ve been telling myself all Camp is like no I don’t predict things I create them I make things happen like I’m not predicting this stoppage I’m gonna make it happen I’m gonna create this like you don’t predict what you can create Mike over here right here what’s up James how’s it going um you know kind of looking back at how everything sort of unfolded this week like you we talked about this you really like thrive in this you know doing all the media um you know being sort of at the Forefront of this card and everything did it live up to everything you imagined like looking back now dude it was 99 perfect had I won that NHL 94 game again I was gonna say that that rattle you at all is that on your mind no I had I won that game it would have been a perfect week buddy yeah for sure and um you know again like I know the focus was totally on your opponent tonight and everything like that do you have an idea of when you want to have that next fight or is it just you know take some time enjoy the moment and then sort of reassess my focus wasn’t even remotely on my opponent my focus was on myself and the process in this moment tonight I I give respect to everyone I fight and I analyze them as much as I feel necessary but there’s a reason I didn’t really use his name because it’s not really about him you know I didn’t talk I’ve never talked trash about anybody I’ve just said how I feel and you know I’ve been honest and I prefer to talk about myself rather than other people not to be conceited but it’s just I’m not talking about him he’s a great fighter um but uh this was this was Canadian mma’s show so I want to talk about I want to talk about how this is our show man this was our coming out party again this is our this was us coming home this was us getting to finally feel that again you know like and everybody everybody showed up everybody showed up in the audience the fans showed up the fans were amazing the fighters were amazing everybody won I really hope here’s the uh here’s what I I ask for you know just uh I hope all the Canadians who fought tonight get a performance bonus because that was pretty special man every Canadian one on the card has that ever happened yes yeah it has yeah well that seems less special now I know you guys got to get a photo together though I think someone suggested that on Twitter you got to round everyone up here tonight yeah and get that together um speaking of Canadians and his name was mentioned earlier did you know George St Pierre was was cage side for the fight tonight did you know that I didn’t know before but um Chris Prickett my wrestling coach told me he’s like dude I saw I I didn’t want to you know nudge you and tell you before the fight but I saw I saw him as we were walking out and I was just like laser focused down the barrel uh you know get into the cage but uh yeah man that’s pretty cool and just last one for me do you have do you have an opponent in mind next I mean I think now the rankings are kind of what uh you know I think you’re sort of looking at right now what’s next for me man is I’m moving my fiance and I just bought a house in font Hill we’re we’re moving I need a little bit of a break dude I had the fury grappling match against Trevin Giles who’s another UFC welterweight I beat him December 30th train for that beat him January 1st started Camp so the day after he flew back started camp for Johann Lanes won that fight called for the UFC to come back to Canada and I’m like oh hopefully at some point this year can you know they’ll come back to Canada I ended my interview with someone and they turned to me and said they’re coming to Vancouver June 10th just so you know I’m like okay well I guess I’m going back to the gym next week to get right back into training for for June 10th so basically since November it’s been date date date pedal to the metal the whole time I I need a little bit of a break I’m gonna I love you Dave hurstbein my manager but I’m probably gonna block your phone number I don’t want to hear from you don’t talk to me for like a month maybe a little bit longer um I’m cornering Andre feely in London uh July 22nd so looking forward to that and then probably after that we can start looking for something again [Music] anybody else thanks guys appreciate it