From Florida to Winnipeg, Canada within a week.
The UFC is on the road again after Carlos Ulberg claimed the light heavyweight title at UFC 327 on Sunday in spectacular fashion.
Canada’s own Mike Malott headlines the card this Sunday in front of his home crowd when he takes on Gilbert Burns in the welterweight division but there are plenty of quality fights taking place.
Our thoughts and betting plays can be found below.
A once proud nation for producing elite UFC athletes, Canada has struggled in recent times and Mike Malott is flying the flag proudly for his country.
The 34 year-old is not ranked in the welterweight division but with a win over Gilbert Burns he is sure to enter the rankings.
He earns this shot against a top ranked opponent thanks to a three fight winning streak that includes a decision win over Kevin Holland in October 2025.
Since making his UFC debut in 2022, he has just one loss to his name in seven fights.
Gilbert Burns fought for the UFC welterweight title back in 2021 but lost via third round TKO against Kamaru Usman.
He comes into this fight off the back of four straight losses and is fighting for his survival in the sport at 39.
Both of these men are very accomplished grapplers which, more often than not, results in a bit of a stale mate in that form of MMA so I’m predicting the fight to take place mainly on the feet.
But so is the market.
I don’t expect the fight to go the full five rounds but with two men that are very dangerous with submissions, I believe that is the value play.
Another rising prospect in Canadian MMA is 30-year-old Charles Jourdain who has had an up and down UFC career since debuting in 2019.
Five of his seven losses in that time period have been decisions including a majority decision and two where the judges did not agree on the winner.
His last three wins in the octagon have been by submission (guillotines) and 15 of his 17 career wins have been finishes.
Kyler Phillips will be his opponent in the co-main event.
He is the same age as Joudain and entered the UFC just after his opponent with a record of six wins and three losses.
All four of his career losses have been via decision and he’s staring down the barrel of three consecutive losses.
Mandel Nallo made his professional MMA debut back in 2012 and won his first seven fights in the first or second round including two in Bellator.
He won a contract through Dana White’s Contender Series last year at the age of 35 and will make his UFC debut in front of his home crowd on Sunday!
Jai Herbet is 37 years-of-age and also made his UFC debut later in his career back in 2020.
He has just three wins from nine fights in the biggest promotion in the world but his opponents have included Ilia Topuria and Renato Moicano as well as a majority draw.
10 of his 13 career wins have been finishes and when considering Mandel Nallo has 12 first round finishes to his fighting CV, I don’t think the judges will be needed in this one.