After back-to-back defeats in his last two outings, Welterweight star Joaquin Buckley has taken a single-minded approach in preparation for his fight against Mike Malott in the main event of UFC Fight Night 291 at the Rogers Place arena in Edmonton on Sunday morning.
Main card set to commence at 02:00am (CAT, GMT+2).
Currently sitting in eighth position on the UFC Welterweight rankings, Buckley (21-8-0) has seen better days in the promotion considering his recent run of losses. Prior to a unanimous decision defeat against Sean Brady at UFC328 in his most recent fight, Buckley also suffered a unanimous decision loss against Kamaru Usman at UFC on ESPN: Usman v Buckley in June 2025.
While he remains in the Welterweight top 10, which was largely due to a six fight win streak before his loss against Usman, Malott (14-2-1) comes in at 11th place following four straight victories.
Malott saw out big names en-route to climbing the Welterweight ladder, including the likes of Kevin Holland and Gilbert Burns, with the latter being a knockout win at UFC Fight Night: Burns v Malott in April.
Speaking ahead of the fight, Buckley noted that he has much to prove in the UFC and that he won't require any ‘scouting’ on his opponent who he considers as a ‘pretty face’.
"I want to prove to myself what I got," Buckley said.
"I'm not really feeling the pressures of being a main event. I'm not feeling the lights and I'm just going to enjoy doing what I do."
"It's going to be a great bounce back. No scouting report on him. He's just a pretty face. He's a gorgeous guy. 'Proper' Mike Malott."
A top 10 Flyweight showdown will take place in the Co-main event as Erin Blanchfield and Jasmine Jasudavicius clash for a potential title shot.
Both Women’s Flyweight stars are previous winners on the Edmonton card with either set to gain the upper hand at facing Natalia Silva in the near future.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT MAIN CARD
Joaquin Buckley v Mike Malott (Welterweight – Main event)
Erin Blanchfield v Jasmine Jasudavicius (Women Flyweight – Co-main)
Kyle Nelson v Cristian Perez (Lightweight)
Marc-Andre Barriault v Kyle Daukaus (Middleweight)
Louis Jourdain v Timmy Cuamba (Bantamweight)
Mandel Nallo v Nate Landwehr (Lightweight)