Every month, MMA Empire will bring you a comprehensive list of any and all Canadian fighters who will be competing in MMA events outside Canada. Check back every week to keep up to date with all the results.
We’re not going to have a whole lot of action to start off the new year, but that’s the norm as we come out of the holiday season. We will see a promising amateur featherweight prospect in Zach Gehl, as well as Katie Saull back in action in search of her third straight win.
January is traditionally the quietest month on the calendar — promotions are still shaking off the holidays, the big leagues haven't started their schedules, and the work belongs to the regional circuit. For Canadian fans that's actually not a bad place to be: the amateur pipeline and the smaller promotions are where next year's UFC names are doing the rounds right now, and a slow month is the best time to notice them.
Peak Fighting 25 – Oklahoma – Jan. 7
TV:
135 lbs – Ethan Herrod defeated Luis Bustos via unanimous decision. *Amateur
155 lbs – Tyler Henson defeated Ely Silve Neto via unanimous decision. *Amateur
Herrod's decision over Bustos and Henson's win over Neto kicked the year off with two amateur results in Oklahoma — Peak Fighting's cards have been a regular stop for Canadian amateurs stacking experience in the U.S., and both winners came away with useful scorecard miles to open 2023.
LFA 150 – Minnesota – Jan. 13
TV: UFC Fight Pass
145 lbs – Darren Coleman defeated Zach Gehl via TKO at 0:20 of the first round. *Amateur
Gehl's 20-second TKO loss to Coleman was the month's hardest lesson — a promising featherweight prospect learning that the jump in competition on a UFC Fight Pass stage is real. Losses like this are where development actually happens; how Gehl responds in his next outing will say more than this one ever could.
COGA Combat Games 72 – Washington – Jan. 14
TV:
145 lbs – Kees Huisman defeated Sahab Khazei via split decision. *Amateur
Huisman's split-decision win over Khazei was the month's lone Canadian result in the Pacific Northwest — grinding out a nod on a road card is never glamorous, but it's the kind of win that builds the bottom of a record.
Invicta FC 51 – Denver – Jan. 18
TV: UFC Fight Pass
105 lbs – Rayanne Amanda defeated Katie Saull via unanimous decision.
115 lbs – Tanya Nijjar (1-0) vs. Sayury Canon (2-0) **CANCELLED (Nijjar missed weight)**
Saull's unanimous-decision loss to Amanda ended the win streak at two — a competitive result against a quality opponent on the sport's premier women's platform, and still the kind of fight that keeps a fighter in Invicta's rotation. Nijjar's bout with Canon getting scratched on a weight miss was the card's other Canadian storyline, a frustrating one given how hard those spots are to come by.
Cage Wars 55 – New York – Jan. 20
TV:
155 lbs – Anthony Offiaeli defeated Dontae de Jesus via unanimous decision. *Amateur
Offiaeli's decision win was another amateur result in the New York circuit — Cage Wars remains a dependable regional home for Eastern Canadian fighters building their records on U.S. soil.
Sparta Fight Night 14 – Colorado – Jan. 20
TV:
170 lbs – Clayton Pye defeated Jake Valdez via TKO at 2:38 of the third round. *Amateur
Pye's third-round TKO was the month's best Canadian amateur finish — going into the final round and still finding the stoppage is exactly the kind of late-fight ability that separates prospects who are ready for the next level from ones who aren't.
K4 Fighting: Cold Fury – New York – Jan. 28
TV:
145 lbs – Nathan Taylor defeated Maxwell Dowd via TKO in the second round. *Amateur
Taylor's second-round TKO over Dowd added another Canadian finish to the January ledger — New York's regional scene continues to be one of the most productive for the country's developing talent.
Savage Fights 1 – Mississippi – Jan. 28
TV:
155 lbs – Nakia Brown defeated Antoine Chaput via split decision.
Chaput's split-decision loss in Mississippi closed the month on a down note — a tight scorecard on a small regional card, and one of those results that's closer than the record will ever show.
FLA 7
FLA's January card rounds out the month's regional slate — check the linked fight card page for the full bout-by-bout listings as they're confirmed.
