UFC Fight Night preview: Joaquin Buckley meets Mike Malott in Edmonton

UFC returns to Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday with a welterweight main event that puts Joaquin Buckley against hometown favorite Mike Malott.

Buckley vs. Malott

Buckley sits in the Top 15 after a six-fight win streak at welterweight was snapped by consecutive losses to Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady. Both setbacks featured prolonged wrestling control. Malott enters on a four-fight winning streak that began at Rogers Place two years ago and includes a third-round stoppage of Gilbert Burns in his first UFC main event in April.

Malott is headlining on Canadian soil for the second time this year. Buckley brings one-strike knockout power. The question is whether Malott's wrestling is sharp enough to hold Buckley down the way Usman and Brady did.

Co-main and Canadian depth

The co-main event pairs Top 10 flyweights Erin Blanchfield and Jasmine Jasudavicius in a bout with title-chase stakes. Blanchfield is 8-1 in the UFC. Jasudavicius won on the last Edmonton card and has pointed to her prior win over Blanchfield's training partner Fatima Kline.

The card carries a heavy Canadian footprint. Main-card bouts also include Kyle Nelson vs. Cristian Perez, Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Kyle Daukaus, Louis Jourdain vs. Timmy Cuamba and Mandel Nallo vs. Nate Landwehr. Prelims feature more local names such as Tanner Boser, Julien Leblanc, Chad Anheliger, Melissa Croden and Cody Chovancek.

When and where to watch

Fight Night: Buckley vs. Malott is Saturday Oct. 17 at Rogers Place. Prelims are set for the afternoon Eastern window with the main card in the evening on Paramount+. For Malott it is another home spotlight. For Buckley it is a chance to stop the skid and protect his ranking before the welterweight picture shifts again.