Exclusive | Michael Malott Talks UFC 273 Bow Against Mickey Gall, Confident Of Debut Victory
Featuring under the banner of the UFC this weekend for the first time, Canadian prospect, Michael Malott has claimed that no matter where his welterweight pairing with Mickey Gall goes – he’s confident of prevailing with a victory at UFC 273.
Malott, 7-1-1 as a professional, eanred his UFC call back in October of last year – stopping Shimon Smortrisky with an eye-catching guillotine victory just 39-seconds into the opening frame of his Dana White’s Contender Series outing.
The WSOF and CFFC alum has suffered just one single professional loss, in the form of a first round knockout loss to fellow Canadian upstar, UFC featherweight contender, Hakeem Dawodu back in November 2014.
Making the welterweight move later in his professional career, Michael Malott, a product of Team Alpha MMA in Sacramento, California is set for a rather high-profile Octagon bow as he tackles grappling talent, Mickey Gall – who has landed six victories under the promotion’s banner.
Michael Malott has yet to go the distance in winning outings, landing three knockout and four further submissions
However, despite the distinct gulf in experience between the two, Malott insists no matter where his matchup with New Jersey native, Gall takes place in terms of Octagon itinerary – he backs himself to score a victory.
“He’s (Mickey Gall) tough, man – he’s been cutting his teeth in the UFC since like his second fight, right?” Michael Malott said during a recent interview with LowKick MMA reporter, James Lynch. “You know, that debut in the UFC wasn’t exactly against a high-level fighter. But since then, it’s been against UFC calibre guys, right? He’s had some wins against some tough guys – not exactly, upper-echelon of the division, but he beat Sage Northcutt, who is a buddy of mine, when Sage was pretty young, he’s got some big wins…”
“His ground games pretty solid, (it) looks like if I had to rank where his skillsets would be, his Jiu-Jitsu would be (top), his striking (middle), and his wrestling (bottom),” Michael Malott continued. “And I would kind of flip that (ranking) for the advantages that I have – to be perfectly honest, I think I’m better than him everywhere. A lot of guys say that, but I do genuinely think I’m better than him everywhere… I’m a high-level black belt in Jiu-Jitsu as well. I was looking to go try to make that run toward the ADCC before I wanted to go back to the UFC. If it goes to the ground, I’m more than happy to play around down there.”
