Stand and Deliver: UFC Edmonton

Every fight matters, but some matter just a little more.

A win is a win, and a loss is a loss, of course, but some of them feel bigger than others for various reasons. In some cases, the elevated stakes are easy to define. Picture the fighter on a losing streak who knows he or she is likely fighting for their job, or conversely, any title fight in a top regional organization, where the combatants know the big leagues are probably scouting them. At other times, a fight feels especially important for reasons that are harder to quantify but no less real. Whether it’s the unspoken weight of being a pioneer in MMA from one’s native country or the simple added spice of two fighters who genuinely hate each other’s guts, that fight means just a little more.

This Saturday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is set to deliver 14 fights that may serve as a bit of a hangover remedy after last week’s mind-bending UFC 308. UFC Fight Night 246 offers junk food in the form of a couple of unranked heavyweight and light heavyweight slobber-knockers, a sugar rush thanks to a strong focus on flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight divisions, and enough native Canadians to ensure that the Edmonton crowd politely loses its mind.

Amid the 28 fighters scheduled to make the walk in Alberta this weekend, here are two who should be feeling just a little extra pressure to stand and deliver:

Here’s a “Proper” Second Chance, Mike Malott

On Jan. 20, the UFC rolled into Toronto with a loaded pay-per-view card topped by two title fights. Just below the Sean Strickland-Dricus Du Plessis main event and the Raquel Pennington-Mayra Bueno Silva co-main, the feature fight of UFC 297 pitted Malott against Neil Magny. It was an obvious setup fight, a pre-coronation, a way to get Canada’s next UFC contender a star-making moment in front of a partisan crowd. Malott enjoyed the highest card placement of any native fighter and checked in as a greater than three-to-one favorite over Magny.

For about two rounds, things were playing out as expected, with Malott cruising towards a decision win over the biggest name opponent of his career. That is when Magny did what he often does – just ask Hector Lombard – as he turned the tables on a suddenly tired-looking Malott, swept to top position and pounded him out with just 15 seconds left in the fight. You could practically hear the air escaping from ScotiaBank Arena.

Nine months later, Malott is getting something of a do-over, as he faces Trevin Giles in the main card opener of UFC Fight Night 246. Once again he is in a prime slot, in an arena likely to be packed with his countrymen by the time he steps into the cage. His opponent, Giles, is not a born grinder like Magny, but something closer to Malott himself: an athletic, versatile and dangerous offensive fighter who has been known to fade or self-destruct in fights he was winning. Saturday’s booking indicates that the UFC still sees plenty of upside in Malott. He would do well to take advantage of this second chance, because if he needs a third, it is unlikely to be on a main card in a Canadian arena.

Hold onto That Crown, Ariane Lipski

It is tempting to read too much into Lipski’s decision this year to change her nickname from “The Queen of Violence” to simply “The Queen.” It may just be a adult moment from a woman who is now 30, married and contemplating having children, and picturing having to explain to her future preschooler why Mommy is the queen of violence. However, considering what Lipski has delivered – or failed to deliver – in nearly six years since joining UFC as one of the most violent champs from one of the sport’s most violent promotions, KSW, the name change may be a nod to reality.

Hard as it may be to picture now, once upon a time Lipski appeared to be a poor woman’s version of Valentina Shevchenko: a crisp muay thai striker with a dangerous and often underrated ground game. While that is still broadly true, the speed, toughness and killer instinct that characterized her KSW run have been largely absent.

Lipski has made a bit of a comeback in recent years; at one point she was 2-4 in the Octagon and appeared in danger of being cut, but now sits at 6-6 in the promotion and enters her matchup with Jasmine Jasudavicius on Saturday just one fight removed from a three-bout win streak. While Lipski’s roster spot is probably secure regardless of Saturday’s outcome, at this point she is firmly in the “just another woman” category in the 125-pound division. A win over Jasudavicius would preserve, or perhaps restore, hope that Lipski might still have a contender run in her. Considering that Jasudavicius is the kind of large, physically strong flyweight that has given Lipski trouble since arriving in the UFC, it would be a sign of continued improvement as well.