Jeremy Perry
February 21, 2023

Mike Malott vs. Yohan Lainesse: UFC Fight Night 220 Odds, Prediction

Mike Malott will be stepping up to take on Yohan Lainesse in a battle between two fighters who each made a name for themselves during Dana White’s Contender Series. This has the potential to be a phenomenal bout between two hard hitters. Let’s take a look at what we might be able to expect from each of these guys when the fight starts.

Mike Malott -240
Yohan Lainesse +180

Mike Malott UFC Fight Night 220 Odds

Mike Malott certainly didn’t hesitate when he was given an opportunity to fight on a large stage. He was able to quickly take care of business against Mickey Gall in his UFC debut back in April, winning that fight by way of knockout. Throughout his entire fighting career, Malott has always been considered a strong striker. He’s posted an average of 5.02 significant strikes landed per minute with a 40 per cent accuracy total at the moment.

The Canadian welterweight is 8-1-1 throughout his entire career with all of his victories coming in some form of early end. Four of them were knockouts and four of them were submissions, which shows that he’s a well-rounded fighter. When standing, Malott can land punches effectively and end a fight at any given moment.

Malott hasn’t lost a professional fight since the year 2014 as he’s won five in a row. Given Lainesse’s shaky track record in the UFC, Malott clearly has an edge. The question is whether he’s worth this big price tag?

Yohan Lainesse UFC Fight Night 220 Odds

Yohan Lainesse will have a difficult battle in front of him, though not impossible. Lainesse didn’t have a great debut to his UFC career, going up against Gabe Green and getting knocked out fairly quickly. Luckily, he didn’t have to sleep on that knockout loss for very long as he later took down Darian Weeks by split decision in September to even out his UFC record. Split decisions are never fully encouraging but a win is a win.

Similar to Malott, Lainesse has incredible knockout power in his striking. The only downside is that he’s not the greatest when it comes to finding open lanes to land those punches. Plus, he often gets hit far too often for some people’s liking. He gets hit with an average of 3.66 strikes per minute; can he really withstand that type of punishment against Malott and still win? Malott will be looking to take full advantage of that weakness if it’s exposed.

Regardless, Lainesse has proven to be able to win fights before they reach the judges’ cards. He’s won nine out of his 10 total fights with six of those coming by way of knockout. That’s probably a good bet in this spot as it’s hard to see a fight like this going the distance.