Neil Magny weathers violent storm and breaks Mike Malott with late stoppage victory at UFC 297
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, January 20, 2024, for UFC 297, going down live from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Headlining the event is a middleweight title bout between Sean Strickland (28-5) and no. 2 ranked Dricus du Plessis (20-2).
Co-headlining the event was also a championship affair, this one coming in the bantamweight division between no. 2 ranked former title challenger Raquel Pennington (15-8) and no. 3 ranked Mayra Bueno Silva (10-2-1) 1 NC.
Our feature fight of the evening came at 170 lbs between the winningest fighter in divisional history Neil Magny (29-11) and Canada’s own Mike Malott (10-2-1).
Magny came into the bout off a loss to no. 10 ranked Ian Garry this past August, while Malott had gone a perfect 3-0 with three finishes since making his UFC debut in April of 2022.
Continue reading to see how our welterweight feature fight of the evening went down:
Official Result: Neil Magny def. Mike Malott via TKO (punches) at 4:45 of round three
Malott controls the opening round with calf kicks, brilliantly taking a page out of Ian Garry’s book. Magny is unable to get anything going through the first five minutes, immediately being pressed into the cage when he ties up with Malott and also being out-struck.
Magny gets frustrated with his lack of success on the feet and charges into an easy takedown for Malott early on in round two. Malott decides to let him up, before eventually taking him back down with a beautiful body lock trip.
Malott spends some time in top position, eventually securing mount where he reigned down heavy punches until the bell sounded.
Malott secures an early takedown once the third and final round begins, securing another once Magny returns to his feet. He was clearly tiring, but was still winning the fight, which was good to see out of someone who’d not seen a third round since 2015.
Magny is able to get up and get on top of Malott himself however, Malott looking exhausted by this point. Malott goes for leg locks while eating heavy punches from Magny. Malott eventually lets go of his leg lock attempt but Magny soon after secures mount.
Magny continues his vicious assault and eventually gets the finish with only 15 seconds remaining in the bout.
comeback from Neil Magny #UFC297 pic.twitter.com/p0YDDgqEUB
— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) January 21, 2024
Mike Malott was about to remain undefeated in the UFC and secure his 11th career victory tonight, but Neil Magny crushed that idea with one of the better comebacks in recent memory.
Neil Magny surpasses his record of most wins in UFC welterweight history tonight at UFC 297, picking up his 22nd promotional and divisional victory.
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