UFC Fight Night: Nobody enjoys a good scrap more than Canadians

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There is nothing better than punching somebody in the face in your own backyard.

Ask any of the seven Canadians on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card at Rogers Place and they’ll tell you it’s like a straight shot of adrenaline.

The sound rises to a level they never hear anywhere else. The atmosphere is more intense. When they fight at home, everything on the dial gets turned to 11.

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“I’m pumped to be behind that curtain and hear the (floor producer) with the headset tell me, ‘OK, you’re walking in three, two, one,’” said Burlington welterweight Mike Malott, who opens the seven-fight main card against American Trevin Giles.

“You hear Fat Lip by Sum 41 (Malott’s walkout music) come on, and from backstage, you hear a quiet roar. Then, when you walk out past that curtain, it goes from that quiet roar to screaming fans right in your face. You hear the echo from being inside the arena.”

It’s a rush, and living up to the moment is all that matters.

“I don’t care how I get this win, I just want to go out there and perform the way that I can,” said Malott, who is 10-2-1 and looking to accelerate his rise in the division after an upset loss in his last outing.

“I’m confident I’m going to go out there and have the best performance of my career.”

In the ‘cage with extra energy’

The last time Jasmine Jasudavicius fought was a road game in Denver where the American crowd rained boos on her during her post-win interview. She’s normally a funny, easygoing gal, but on this night, she was having none of it.

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Her “suck it, man” response has become legendary.

“I was talking to one of the guys, and they were saying, ‘You always play it up when it’s in Canada, and when you’re away, you love to play the heel,’” laughed the 14th-ranked St. Catharines flyweight, who is expecting a warmer reception when she takes on 13th-ranked Brazilian Ariane (Queen of Violence) Da Silva.

She says the physical and emotional boost they get at home is very real.

“I’m so excited to fight in Canada. I feel like they are all behind me, and I go to the cage with extra energy. It’s so cool to have them supporting me. I love it,” she said.

‘Fighting is part of our culture’

Bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi of Laval is headlining the seven-fight preliminary card against Pedro Munoz and says it’s no accident the UFC is always a hit when it comes up north.

Fighting, he says, is in our blood.

“Every time they come, they sell out. Canadians love fighting,” he said. “Even in our biggest national sports, hockey and lacrosse, fighting is involved. For Canadians, fighting is part of our culture.

“We’ve always had great boxers, great kickboxers, great karate guys, great hockey fighters, lacrosse brawlers. I think Canadian fans really appreciate when UFC comes. They always show up, and it’s always a great crowd, so I’m excited to fight here.”

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Edmonton has always been a big fight town going back to the days of Canadian heavyweight boxing champions Ken Lakusta and Willie De Wit. And on the ice, Edmonton Oilers enforcers Dave Semenko, Dave Brown, and Georges Laraque are as celebrated as the greats they protected.

Trash talk

Zahabi doesn’t have a favourite NHL tough guy, but he is friends with Derek Parker, who once had back-to-back minor league seasons with 503 and 508 penalty minutes and even branched out into mixed martial arts.

“Derek Parker used to train with us, so you could say he was my favourite hockey fighter,” said Zahabi with a laugh.

“He’s super tough. Hockey guys are extremely tough. He has one of the most viral videos where he’s in MMA beating a guy in ground and pound, and the guy’s mouthpiece falls out, so he takes the mouthpiece, puts it back in the guy’s mouth, and keeps beating him up.

“Just good, old Canadian fighting, just nice boys out there who know how to take care of business.”

It seems a little incongruent, a country known for being polite and self-aware embracing violence the way it does, but Zahabi says it comes naturally. He likes fighting but has never been one to run down his opponent or deliver insults in search of online clicks.

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“I don’t think it makes any sense,” he said. “It’s a business, and we’re sportsmen. I’m here to be an athlete. I don’t think the guys in the NBA or NFL need to talk trash. I don’t think I need to either.

“We want kids to come into the sport, we want them to be great martial artists, and develop good character. It’s not about being a bad guy, it’s about performing in your sport. I’m trying to grow my social media through other avenues than talking trash.”

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