UFC Edmonton: Buckley vs. Malott Pre-Fight Analysis

The UFC returns to Edmonton on Saturday at Rogers Place with two ranked welterweights in a five-round main event. Joaquin Buckley, ranked 10th, has lost his last two by decision, to Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady. Mike Malott, ranked 13th, has won four straight since a knockout loss to Neil Magny in January 2024, most recently a third-round stoppage of Gilbert Burns in April.

The co-main was supposed to happen in August. Erin Blanchfield and Jasmine Jasudavicius were booked for UFC 330 until Blanchfield withdrew with an injury, and the fight moved here. Three other bouts changed opponents. Mackenzie Stiller replaced the injured Jamey-Lyn Horth against Katlyn Cerminara, Nick Galanti replaced Gilbert Urbina against Julien Leblanc, and Joel Faglier replaced Louie Sutherland against Javad Mahjoub.

Seven fighters make their UFC debuts, and three more arrive with a single UFC bout each. Where a sample is that thin, this piece describes it rather than quoting rates off it. The roster also crosses itself. Manon Fiorot has beaten Blanchfield, Jasudavicius and Cerminara. Jessica Andrade was submitted by both co-main fighters. Jai Herbert has beaten both Kyle Nelson and Mandel Nallo, and Kevin Holland knocked out Buckley in 2020 before losing a decision to Malott last October.

Here is how the card reads, first fight to last.

Prelims

Cody Chovancek vs. SuYoung You, Bantamweight

Cody Chovancek, 28, is 9-0 and makes his UFC debut. The London, Ontario native won the Unified MMA bantamweight title with a fifth-round calf slicer against Gage Gill in 2024 and defended it in 2025. He earned his UFC contract on the Contender Series in 2025 with a third-round knockout of Raphael Uchegbu, and this debut comes more than a year later. There are no UFC numbers to read on him yet.

SuYoung You, 30, is 16-4 with two no contests and 2-1 in the UFC. He came through Road to UFC in 2024, then won decisions over AJ Cunningham and Xiao Long. In March, Elijah Smith submitted him with a rear-naked choke in the second round, his first UFC loss, 217 days before this fight.

You averages 4.26 takedowns per 15 minutes at 47 percent. Across three UFC bouts he has landed 9 of 24 takedown attempts and spent about 30 percent of his cage time in control. No UFC opponent has tried to take him down.

You wants the fight on the mat. Chovancek won his title there with a leg lock. Who is comfortable on the ground is the question both of them bring.

Melissa Croden vs. Chelsea Chandler, Women's Bantamweight

Melissa Croden, ranked 14th at bantamweight, is 35, 8-3, and 2-1 in the UFC. The Calgary fighter debuted with a third-round TKO of Tainara Lisboa last October, lost a decision to Luana Santos in December, and beat Daria Zhelezniakova by unanimous decision in Winnipeg in April.

She lands 4.27 significant strikes per minute and absorbs 2.13. She averages 2.02 takedowns per 15 at 50 percent, and her takedown defense is 66 percent.

Chelsea Chandler, 35, is 7-4 and 3-3 in the UFC. She arrives off a first-round armbar from mount against Priscila Cachoeira in June, which ended a two-fight skid: a decision loss to Yana Santos and a first-round TKO loss to Joselyne Edwards. She lands 3.52 per minute and absorbs 4.27. Across six UFC bouts, opponents have landed six of the eight takedowns they have tried against her.

Croden's takedowns go straight at the soft spot in Chandler's record. Chandler's armbar in June is the reminder that the mat cuts both ways.

Chad Anheliger vs. Steven Koslow, Bantamweight

Chad Anheliger is 39, 13-8, and 2-3 in the UFC. He has been out 714 days, since a unanimous decision loss to Cody Gibson in November 2024. His UFC wins were a third-round knockout of Jesse Strader and a decision over Charalampos Grigoriou. He lands 3.11 per minute and absorbs 2.76.

The wrestling numbers run against him. In five UFC bouts, opponents have landed 16 of 22 takedowns on Anheliger and held him under control for nearly 27 minutes.

Steven Koslow, 29, is 6-1. His one UFC bout was a third-round knockout loss to Cameron Saaiman at UFC 282 in December 2022, 1,407 days before Saturday. He landed five takedowns in that fight. One bout is too thin for rates, but it shows the route he took.

Between them, these two have been away nearly six years. Koslow's takedowns against Anheliger's record of giving them up is the matchup, if both look like their last outings.

Katlyn Cerminara vs. Mackenzie Stiller, Women's Flyweight

Katlyn Cerminara, who fought most of her career as Katlyn Chookagian, is 37, 18-6, and 11-6 in the UFC. She challenged Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight title in February 2020 and was stopped in the third round. Her last two fights were decision losses to Fiorot and Maycee Barber, and the Barber fight at UFC 299 was 952 days before this one.

All 11 of her UFC wins went to the judges, and 15 of her 17 UFC bouts went the distance. She lands 4.58 per minute at 34 percent, and her striking defense is 62 percent. Across her UFC career, opponents have landed 26 of the 52 takedowns they have tried on her.

Horth withdrew with an injury in late September, and Mackenzie Stiller took the fight on less than three weeks' notice for her UFC debut. Stiller is 27 and 6-1, competed in Bellator, and comes from a judo background.

Cerminara's career has been built on 15-minute fights. Stiller's judo, and Cerminara's 952 days away, are what could change the shape of this one.

Javad Mahjoub vs. Joel Faglier, Heavyweight

Javad Mahjoub, 34, is 5-0 and makes his UFC debut. He competed in judo at two Olympics, for Iran at Rio 2016 and on the Refugee Olympic Team at Tokyo 2020, and won the 2013 Asian Championships at under 100 kilograms. He fights out of Montreal. Three of his five MMA wins came by knockout or TKO, one by armbar and one by decision.

Joel Faglier, 25, is 6-0 and replaces Sutherland for his own UFC debut. The Augusta, Georgia fighter finished five of his six wins, three by submission and two by TKO, and four of them came in the first round. His last fight, a unanimous decision over Cody East at Fury FC in February, was the first time he went the distance.

Neither man has UFC numbers. One of the two unbeaten records ends on Saturday, and both men have mostly won early.

Julien Leblanc vs. Nick Galanti, Middleweight

Julien Leblanc, 34, is 10-3 and 0-1 in the UFC. His debut in April lasted 142 seconds before Robert Valentin finished him with a rear-naked choke. That is the whole sample, and no rate drawn from it means much.

Nick Galanti, 28, is 8-1 and the CFFC middleweight champion. He earned his UFC contract on August 25 by knocking out Carlos Petruzzella in 35 seconds on the Contender Series, and he steps in for Urbina 53 days later to make his UFC debut. Both men fight southpaw.

Leblanc is still looking for his first UFC win on home soil. Galanti's last fight took 35 seconds. Neither has shown what a full 15 minutes looks like on this stage.

Tanner Boser vs. Jhonata Diniz, Heavyweight

Tanner Boser fights at home. The Edmonton heavyweight is 35, 22-11-1, and 5-6 in the UFC, and has lost three of his last four. He was away for more than two and a half years after an August 2023 decision over Aleksa Camur, and returned in April with a second-round knockout loss to Gokhan Saricam. Three of his five UFC wins were knockouts.

He lands 4.82 per minute at 53 percent and absorbs 3.00, with a striking defense of 57 percent.

Jhonata Diniz, 35, is 9-2 and 3-2 in the UFC. Both losses were stoppages: a doctor's stoppage against Marcin Tybura and punches from mount against Mario Pinto last October, 371 days ago. He lands 3.89 per minute at 56 percent. At 6'4" with a 79.5-inch reach, he has four inches of reach on Boser.

Neither man has landed a takedown in the UFC, so this one stays on the feet unless something changes. Boser has the output. Diniz has the length.

Main Card

Mandel Nallo vs. Nate Landwehr, Lightweight

Mandel Nallo, 37, is 14-4 with a no contest and 0-1 in the UFC. The Montreal fighter's debut in April lasted 125 seconds before Jai Herbert stopped him with ground punches. One fight that short says little.

Nate Landwehr is 38, 18-8, and 5-6 in the UFC, and has been stopped in each of his last three: elbows from the crucifix against Dooho Choi, a third-round knockout against Morgan Charriere, and a first-round knockout against Cub Swanson in April. Five of his six UFC losses came by knockout or TKO. His last six UFC bouts were all at featherweight, and this one is at lightweight.

He lands 5.55 per minute and absorbs 5.96, and has been knocked down seven times in the UFC.

Both men are coming off knockout losses. Landwehr's fights move fast in both directions, and he is doing it at a new weight.

Louis Jourdain vs. Timmy Cuamba, Bantamweight

Louis Jourdain, 29, is 9-3 and makes his UFC debut after earning a contract on the Contender Series. He fights out of Montreal.

Timmy Cuamba, 27, is 10-4 and 2-3 in the UFC, and has fought at three weights. He lost his lightweight debut by split decision to Bolaji Oki and a featherweight decision to Lucas Almeida. He then knocked out Roberto Romero with a flying knee at featherweight and beat ChangHo Lee by decision at bantamweight, before Benardo Sopaj submitted him in the second round in May.

He lands 2.88 per minute at 42 percent and absorbs 3.72. His takedown defense is 71 percent.

Cuamba has five UFC fights at three weights. Jourdain has none. What Cuamba has seen is the edge on paper, and debuts are where paper tends to get tested.

Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Kyle Daukaus, Middleweight

Marc-Andre Barriault, from Gatineau, Quebec, is 36, 17-11 with a no contest, and 6-10 in the UFC. He has won one of his last six, a first-round stoppage of Bruno Silva with elbows in May 2025, and lost a decision to Michal Oleksiejczuk in February. His no contest was a 2020 win over Oskar Piechota overturned after a failed drug test.

He lands 5.65 per minute and absorbs 5.94.

Kyle Daukaus, 33, is 17-5 with a no contest and 4-5 in the UFC. His 2025 wins took less than a minute each: elbows against Michel Pereira in 43 seconds, then a D'Arce choke against Gerald Meerschaert in 50. In June, Bo Nickal knocked him out in the first round at UFC Freedom 250. Three of his five UFC losses were knockouts. His no contest was a 2021 submission of Kevin Holland overturned on replay.

He averages 2.00 submission attempts per 15 minutes and 1.97 takedowns at 25 percent. In the UFC he has controlled about 41 percent of his cage time.

Barriault keeps a high pace in both directions. Daukaus finishes on the mat and has been finished on the feet. Where the fight lives decides which of those records gets added to.

Kyle Nelson vs. Cristian Perez Gonzalez, Lightweight

Kyle Nelson, from Huntsville, Ontario, is 35, 17-7-1, and 5-6-1 in the UFC. He is 1-1 since returning to lightweight: a unanimous decision over Matt Frevola last October, then a 24-second knockout loss to Terrance McKinney in March. Four of his six UFC losses came by knockout or TKO.

He lands 3.60 per minute and absorbs 4.58, with a striking defense of 53 percent.

Cristian Perez Gonzalez, 27, is 15-2 and makes his UFC debut. The Baja California fighter earned his contract on his second Contender Series appearance this year, with a win over Logan Paxton.

Nelson has 12 UFC fights of experience, and his losses have tended to end early. Perez Gonzalez has none. The opening minutes test both of those facts.

Erin Blanchfield vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius, Women's Flyweight

Erin Blanchfield, ranked fourth at flyweight, is 27, 14-2, and 8-1 in the UFC. Her one UFC loss was a five-round decision to Fiorot in March 2024. Since then she has beaten Rose Namajunas by decision and submitted Tracy Cortez with a rear-naked choke in November, 336 days ago. Four of her UFC wins came by submission, and she holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

She lands 5.24 per minute, averages 1.96 takedowns per 15 at 34 percent, and defends 78 percent. In nine UFC bouts, opponents have held her under control for less than three minutes in total.

Jasmine Jasudavicius, ranked sixth, is 37, 15-4, and 9-3 in the UFC. Fiorot knocked her out in the first round last October, and she rebounded with a decision over Karine Silva in April. She averages 2.63 takedowns per 15 at 46 percent. Across her UFC career she has landed 25 takedowns and spent nearly half her cage time in control.

Their records overlap. Both submitted Andrade with chokes, both lost to Fiorot, and both beat Miranda Maverick. Cortez, whom Blanchfield submitted, beat Jasudavicius by decision in 2023. Both women win by deciding where the fight happens, and the first takedown exchange says a lot about who gets to fight her fight.

Joaquin Buckley vs. Mike Malott, Welterweight

Joaquin Buckley, ranked 10th at welterweight, is 32, 21-8, and 11-6 in the UFC. Before his current skid he won six straight, including a third-round knockout of Stephen Thompson and a doctor's stoppage of Colby Covington. Then Usman beat him over five rounds in June 2025, and Brady beat him by decision at UFC 328 in May. Eight of his 11 UFC wins came by knockout or TKO.

He is a southpaw who lands 3.62 per minute at 36 percent and absorbs 3.10. His takedown defense is 70 percent. He has landed 9 knockdowns in the UFC.

Mike Malott, from Fonthill, Ontario, is 34, 14-2-1, and 7-1 in the UFC. Since the Magny loss he has beaten Trevin Giles by decision, knocked out Charles Radtke in the second round, beaten Holland by decision, and stopped Burns with ground punches in the third round of his first main event. He lands 4.02 per minute at 48 percent and averages 1.63 takedowns per 15 at 50 percent.

Malott is 6'1" to Buckley's 5'10", but Buckley has the longer reach, 76 inches to 73. Buckley has fought 25 minutes once, against Usman. Malott has never fought past the third round in the UFC. Buckley's power is a live path every minute this fight lasts, and Malott will be asked to show what his fourth and fifth rounds look like.

If you want to see the predictions for the card, visit mmafightadvisor.com/predictions, and for head to head comparisons on every fighter on it, visit mmafightadvisor.com/stats.