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.
April is loaded with Canadian content with over a dozen fighters competing in the UFC, Bellator, ONE Championship, PFL, LFA, Brave CF, CFFC, and more.
That distribution — eight promotions in one month — is the year's busiest stretch so far, and the results matched the volume: a Brave CF submission, a Bellator highlight reel, a UFC decision streak and a PFL title run all landing inside the same four weeks. This is the kind of month that makes the column's case for how deep the Canadian bench actually is.
Brave CF 50 – Bahrain – April 1
TV: Fight Network – 11 a.m. EST (March 31)
135 lbs- Brad Katona submits Borislav Nikolic by Guillotine Choke in Round 3, 0:40
Katona's third-round guillotine in Bahrain opened the month's ledger — a come-from-behind finish late in the fight is the kind of result that keeps a bantamweight's stock moving up.
Bellator 255 – Connecticut – April 2
TV: YouTube – 6 p.m. EST
155 lbs- Mandel Nallo defeats Ricardo Seixas by KO (Superman Punch) in Round 1, 3:23
Nallo's Superman-punch KO was the month's viral finish — a first-round highlight on Bellator's Connecticut stage is exactly the kind of tape that outlives the night it happened on.
CFFC 95 – Philadelphia – April 2
TV: UFC Fight Pass
135 lbs- Mateo Vogel submits Garrett Armfield by Rear-Naked Choke in Round 2, 2:28
Vogel's second-round rear-naked in Philadelphia kept the CFFC pipeline producing — Canadian bantamweights have been a fixture on the promotion's cards, and submissions there travel.
Mountain Force 24 – Montana – April 4
TV:
265 lbs- Finn Higgins defeats Eduardo Fernandez by Unanimous Decision *Amateur
Higgins's decision win in Montana was the month's quiet amateur result — small U.S. cards like Mountain Force are where the next tier of Canadian heavies gets its reps.
Bellator 256 – Connecticut- April 9
TV: YouTube – 9 p.m. EST
145 lbs- Adam Borics defeats Jeremy Kennedy by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Kennedy's decision loss to Borics was the month's hard Bellator result for Canada — a competitive scorecard against a top contender at 145, and the kind of fight that keeps a veteran's ranking honest.
UFC Fight Night 189 – Las Vegas – April 10
TV: TSN5 – 1 p.m. EST
155 lbs- John Makdessi defeats Ignacio Bahamondes by Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Makdessi's split-decision win over Bahamondes was the month's first UFC result — the veteran lightweight taking a tight scorecard against a hyped prospect is the kind of win that resets a roster trajectory.
Peak Fighting 10 – Arkansas – April 10
TV: Internet PPV – 7:30 p.m. EST
145 lbs- Dakota Hope submits Patrick Connors by Rear-Naked Choke in Round 5, 3:25
***Hope wins Featherweight Title
Hope's fifth-round rear-naked for the featherweight title was the month's longest finish — winning a belt in the last round on a regional card is the kind of result a career gets built around.
ONE Championship – Singapore – April 14
TV: YouTube – 8:30 p.m. EST
155 lbs- (C)Christian Lee defeats Timofey Nastyukhin by TKO (Punches) in Round 1, 1:13
***Lee defends Lightweight Title
265 lbs- Dustin Joynson (6-0) vs. Kirill Grishenko (3-0) *Cancelled/Grishenko Injured
Lee's TKO of Nastyukhin headlined ONE's April card — the lightweight title fight carried the night's biggest stakes, and the Canadian-relevant results on the card kept the column's international thread alive.
Bellator 257 – Connecticut – April 16
TV: YouTube 6 p.m. EST (Prelims) 9 p.m. EST (Main Card)
145 lbs- Julia Budd defeats Dayana Silva by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
155 lbs- Lance Gibson Jr. defeats Marcus Surin by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Budd's split-decision win over Silva was the month's Bellator result for Canadian women's MMA — the veteran featherweight taking a tight scorecard keeps the country's deepest division represented.
LFA 104 – Oklahoma – April 15
TV: UFC Fight Pass
185 lbs- Joel Bauman defeats Julien Leblanc by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Leblanc's shutout loss to Bauman in Oklahoma was the month's mid-level regional result — LFA cards on Fight Pass are where Canadian fighters' records get watched by the bigger leagues.
UFC on ESPN 22 – Las Vegas – April 17
TV: TSN1 – 8 p.m. EST
115 lbs- Jessica Penne defeats Lupita Godinez by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Godinez's split-decision loss to Penne was the month's toughest UFC result for Canada — a fight she arguably took that went the other way on the cards, and the kind of outcome that costs a strawweight momentum more than standing.
Coastal Combat 9 – Australia – April 17
TV: PPV
135 lbs- Val Sharipov defeats Jake Pitfield by Unanimous Decision *Amateur
Pitfield's decision loss in Australia was the month's most far-flung result — Canadian fighters showing up on Australian cards keeps the column's geography honest.
PFL 2021 #1 – Atlantic City – April 23
TV: TSN Direct – 5:30 p.m. EST
155lbs- Alex Martinez defeats Loik Radzhabov by Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Martinez's split-decision win over Radzhabov opened his PFL season on the right foot — in a format where points decide the bracket, winning the first fight is the whole season's foundation.
UFC 261 – Las Vegas – April 24
TV: TSN5 – 8 p.m. EST
145lbs- Pat Sabatini defeats Tristan Connelly by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Connelly's decision loss to Sabatini on the Jacksonville PPV was the month's biggest-stage result for Canada — a tough scorecard against a grappler on a card that drew one of the year's biggest gates.
PFL 2021 #2 – Atlantic City – April 29
TV: TSN2 – 9 p.m. EST
170 lbs- Rory MacDonald submits Curtis Millender by Rear-Naked Choke in Round 1, 3:38
205 lbs- Smealinho Rama (11-5-1) vs. Jordan Young (11-1) *Cancelled/Rama Out
MacDonald's first-round rear-naked of Millender was the month's biggest Canadian win — a former UFC title challenger submitting a UFC veteran in one round is the result his whole PFL run was built on. Rama's result on the same card kept the heavyweight ledger moving.
LFA 106 – Oklahoma – April 30
TV: UFC Fight Pass – 9 p.m. EST
135lbs- Tyler Wilson (6-3) vs. Kyle Estrada (10-6)
Wilson's matchup with Estrada closed the month's U.S. ledger — LFA's Oklahoma cards stayed the busiest single venue for Canadian bantamweights through this stretch.
