Mike Malott has entered ESPN’s welterweight rankings at No. 8 after knocking out Joaquin Buckley in the UFC Fight Night main event in Edmonton on October 17. Malott finished Buckley with a jumping knee, extending his UFC winning streak to five fights. Buckley fell out of the rankings after the loss. The result gives Malott a significant position in the division and strengthens his case for a higher-profile matchup. ESPN’s updated rankings were published October 20.
Mike Malott has moved into ESPN's welterweight rankings at No. 8 following his second-round knockout of Joaquin Buckley in the UFC Fight Night main event in Edmonton on October 17. ESPN published its updated rankings on October 20, and Buckley dropped out of the list after the loss.
Malott finished the fight with a jumping knee, his fifth straight UFC victory. The 34-year-old Canadian is 15-2-1 and trains out of Team Alpha Male. His most recent recorded fights before Buckley were a third-round knockout of Gilbert Burns in April and a unanimous decision over Kevin Holland in October 2025. He lands 4.02 significant strikes per minute at 48 percent accuracy, and he averages 1.63 takedowns per 15 minutes along with 0.7 submission attempts.
Buckley, 32, is 21-9-0 and was ranked 10th in the UFC's own welterweight list before the loss. The American southpaw out of Murcielago MMA has now dropped three straight, a run that started with a five-round unanimous decision against Kamaru Usman in June 2025. Sean Brady beat him by unanimous decision at UFC 328 in May. Buckley lands 3.62 significant strikes per minute at 36 percent accuracy.
The fight was the first recorded meeting between the two, and Malott won it. The numbers show a clear gap in striking efficiency: Malott's 48 percent accuracy is 12 points higher than Buckley's 36 percent, and he outpaces him by 0.40 significant strikes per minute. Buckley holds a three-inch reach edge, 76 inches to Malott's 73, though Malott is three inches taller at six-foot-one.
Why it matters
- Malott's five-fight UFC winning streak includes a stoppage of a former top-ranked contender in Burns and now a main event finish of Buckley.
- His entry at No. 8 puts him inside ESPN's top 10 and positions him for a higher-profile matchup, according to the reasoning behind the ranking move.
- Buckley's exit from the rankings caps a three-fight skid and leaves him needing a bounce-back win to return.
