Dana White: UFC to Cover “Proper” Mike Malott’s Cancer Donation, Talks Possible Host Cities Next
Dana White will cover Mike Malott’s donation to Team Alpha Male coach Joey Rodriguez Jr. to help his daughter who’s battling stage 3 lymphoma.
Mike Malott made a sensational debut in the UFC with a knockout win against Mickey Gall in the first round. He fought his way through Dana White‘s Contender Series to win the contract in the fifth season by submitting Shimon Smotritsky in October last year. In the fourth minute of round one at UFC 273, Malott hit Gall with a left hook that sent him crashing down to the octagon.
“I was just some kid in Waterdown, Ontario, Canada with a stubborn dream of fighting in this cage with no proof that I was going to do it,” Malott said in his post-fight interview before proceeding to raise awareness to end the interview with a simple yet powerful slogan, “F**k cancer!”
‘Proper’ is currently on a ten and ten contract which means he got $10,000 to show and another $10,000 to win. He was going to contribute all of his show money to Team Alpha Male coach Joey Rodriguez Jr. whose daughter Angie is currently battling stage 3 lymphoma.
During the UFC 273 post-fight conference, UFC president Dana White was asked about Malott’s performance and the generous offer. White promised to cover the donation money and even upped the donation amount.
“He looked good. The kid looked good. He’s fun, he’s fun to watch. He can keep his ten grand, and I’ll do his show and his win, and I’ll donate it to his coach.”
Dana White shares thoughts on future for UFC
It’s the second time in a row for PPV events that the UFC president has chosen to step in for a fighter’s charitable donations. Just a month ago, Dana White promised to cover the charitable donation for Bryce Mitchell after he vowed to donate half of his fight purse at UFC 272 to a children’s charity in Arkansas.
Responding to the media about where the UFC might go next, White hinted at Mike Malott’s hometown of Toronto as a possible option to host an event his year. When he was asked specifically about bringing the promotion back to Australia given the star power of the Aussie champion Alexander Volkanovski, White said, “The place is still locked down. I can’t risk trying to bring a show over there, get there, and have it shut down. I think that just happened to Formula 1, didn’t it?”
With the world reeling back to normalcy from the pandemic, White ruled out a trip down under based on the confusion that the race was canceled. Australian Grand Prix was scrapped two years ago although the race this year did go ahead with 420,000 people in attendance.
UFC seems to be back on the road having done shows in Texas, Florida, California, Ohio, and London, England this year. After being probed about the specific places the promotion is aiming for, Dana White said, “We’re talking about possibly Boston, back to New York again, we’re looking at Salt Lake City, Utah. Seattle we were looking at. Toronto.”
