Canada punches way above its weight in the UFC. The country gave the sport its most dominant welterweight ever, hosted some of the promotion’s biggest gates in Toronto and Montreal, and keeps producing gyms — Tristar in Montreal, Niagara Top Team in Ontario — that churn out octagon-ready talent.
Right now the name everyone’s typing into search bars is Mike Malott, the Burlington welterweight who’s become the face of Canadian MMA’s new wave. But he’s part of a much longer line. Here are 10 Canadian UFC fighters worth knowing, with their tale-of-the-tape numbers and what they actually did inside the cage.
1. Georges St-Pierre
Image: Web Summit / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Born May 19, 1981 in Saint-Isidore, Quebec, GSP stands 5 feet 10 inches with a 76-inch reach and competed at the 170-pound welterweight limit for nearly his entire career. He retired 26-2 with nine consecutive title defenses — the second-longest streak in UFC history.
He walked away in 2013, came back four years later and moved up to 185 lbs to choke out Michael Bisping at UFC 217 in November 2017, making him a two-division champion at 36. He famously carried around 195 lbs between camps and cut down hard, working with strength coach Jonathan Chaimberg and gymnastics training to build the frame.
2. Mike Malott
Image: Btcfight / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Malott, born May 10, 1991 in Ontario, is a 6-foot, 170-pound welterweight out of Niagara Top Team. He earned his contract with a first-round submission on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 and then stopped Mickey Gall, Yohan Lainesse and Adam Fugitt inside the distance.
His signature night came at UFC 297 in Toronto on January 20, 2024, when he finished veteran Neil Magny in the third round in front of a home crowd. He’s a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and most of his wins come by stoppage — which is exactly why Canadian fans treat every one of his bookings like an event.
3. Rory MacDonald
Born July 22, 1989 in Quesnel, British Columbia, MacDonald fought at 6 feet, 170 lbs with a 76-inch reach. He debuted in the UFC at 20 and trained alongside St-Pierre at Tristar, which is partly why the two never fought.
His title shot against Robbie Lawler at UFC 189 in July 2015 is still regularly called one of the greatest fights ever — a brutal five-round war that ended with both men’s faces destroyed. He later won the Bellator welterweight belt before retiring in 2023.
4. Carlos Newton
Image: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brittany Primavera / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
“The Ronin” was Canada’s first UFC champion. Born in Nevis in 1976 and raised in Newmarket, Ontario, Newton fought at 5 feet 9 inches and 170 lbs, blending judo, jiu-jitsu and karate at a time when most fighters were still one-dimensional.
He submitted Pat Miletich with a bulldog choke at UFC 31 in May 2001 to take the welterweight title, then lost it to Matt Hughes at UFC 34 in one of the most replayed finishes in company history.
5. Patrick Côté
Côté, born September 29, 1980 in Rimouski, Quebec, was a 5-foot-11 middleweight with heavy hands and a granite chin. A former Canadian Forces soldier, he took his UFC debut on short notice in 2004 against Tito Ortiz.
He went on a four-fight win streak that earned him a shot at Anderson Silva at UFC 90 in October 2008 — the fight ended when Côté’s knee gave out in round three, the only time Silva failed to finish a challenger during his middleweight reign.
6. Elias Theodorou
The Mississauga native stood 6 feet 1 inch and fought at 185 lbs. He won The Ultimate Fighter Nations in 2014 and went 8-3 in the UFC, with a style built on relentless volume and forward pressure.
Theodorou made history in 2020 as the first professional athlete in North America granted a therapeutic use exemption for medical cannabis, which he used to manage bilateral neuropathic pain. He died of liver cancer on September 11, 2022 at just 34.
7. Jasmine Jasudavicius
Jasudavicius trains out of Niagara Top Team alongside Malott and competes in the 125-pound flyweight division at about 5 feet 7 inches. She came up through Canadian regional MMA before earning a UFC deal and fought her way into the rankings.
She’s a grinder — clinch work, takedowns, relentless top pressure — and her win over Priscila Cachoeira on the UFC 297 card in Toronto was one of the loudest moments of the night for the Canadian contingent.
8. Aiemann Zahabi
Born in Montreal in 1987, Zahabi is a 5-foot-8 bantamweight fighting at 135 lbs out of Tristar Gym, where his older brother Firas coached St-Pierre. That family connection meant huge expectations from day one.
After a rough 1-2 start, he rebuilt quietly and stacked up a long win streak into his late 30s, fighting his way into the bantamweight top 15 — a late-career climb almost nobody saw coming.
9. Arjan Bhullar
The Richmond, BC heavyweight is 6 feet tall and fights at the 265-pound limit. Before MMA he won Commonwealth Games wrestling gold in 2010 and represented Canada at the 2012 London Olympics.
Bhullar became the first fighter of Indian descent to compete in the UFC when he debuted in 2017, going 3-1 before leaving and winning the ONE Championship heavyweight title against Brandon Vera in 2021.
10. Gillian Robertson
Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario in 1995, “The Savage” is 5 feet 5 inches and has fought at both 125 and 115 lbs. She debuted at 22 after The Ultimate Fighter and became one of the most prolific finishers in the women’s divisions.
Robertson holds the record for the most submission wins in UFC women’s history — armbars, rear-naked chokes, kneebars. If she gets to the mat, the fight usually ends there.
From Newton’s bulldog choke in 2001 to Malott’s third-round finish of Magny in Toronto, Canada’s UFC story keeps extending. The gyms are still producing, the crowds in Montreal and Toronto are still among the loudest the promotion draws, and the next wave is already booked.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the greatest Canadian UFC fighter?
Georges St-Pierre is widely considered the greatest Canadian UFC fighter. He retired 26-2 with nine consecutive welterweight title defenses, the second-longest streak in UFC history.
Who was the first Canadian UFC champion?
Carlos “The Ronin” Newton was Canada’s first UFC champion. He submitted Pat Miletich with a bulldog choke at UFC 31 in May 2001 to win the welterweight title.
Which Canadian UFC fighter is the biggest star right now?
Mike Malott, the 6-foot, 170-pound welterweight from Burlington, Ontario, is the face of Canadian MMA’s new wave. He finished Neil Magny in the third round at UFC 297 in Toronto in January 2024.
What gyms produce the most Canadian UFC fighters?
Tristar Gym in Montreal and Niagara Top Team in Ontario are the two biggest pipelines. Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald both trained at Tristar, while Malott comes out of Niagara Top Team.
Did Georges St-Pierre win titles in two weight classes?
Yes. After nearly ruling the 170-pound division, he returned in 2017, moved up to 185 lbs and choked out Michael Bisping at UFC 217 to become a two-division champion at age 36.
What weight class do most top Canadian UFC fighters compete in?
Welterweight at 170 pounds. St-Pierre, Mike Malott, Rory MacDonald and Carlos Newton all built their reputations in that division.
More Carlos Newton Celebrities
Trending Now
Last Updated: October 21, 2026 | Source: Healthy Celeb
