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.
Fall is here and that means the MMA scene is going to start heating up again. October will be a solid month for Canadian fighters down south with a handful of fighters competing in the Big 3 of UFC, Bellator and PFL. Good news for women’s MMA fans as almost half of those will be female fighters.
October 2021 turned out to be one of the year's heaviest UFC months for Canada — three consecutive Vegas Fight Nights carried Canadian results, plus a Contender Series finish and a PFL title fight. When the big-league slate is this dense, the regional results almost get crowded out.
UFC Fight Night 193 – Las Vegas – Oct. 2
TV: TSN
185 lbs – Krzysztof Jotko defeats Misha Cirkunov by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Cirkunov's split-decision loss to Jotko opened the month's UFC ledger — a tight middleweight scorecard that went the other way, and the kind of result that puts a veteran's roster spot under pressure.
Split decisions at this level are also the coin-flips a career's judged on — one judge's round is the difference between a streak and a slide.
DWCS Week 6 – Las Vegas – Oct. 5
TV: TSN
170 lbs – Mike Malott submits Shimon Smotritsky by Guillotine Choke in Round 1, 0:39
Malott's 39-second guillotine was the month's fastest Canadian finish — a sub-minute submission on the Contender Series stage is about as loud an audition as the regional circuit offers.
UFC Fight Night 194 – Las Vegas- Oct. 9
TV: TSN
115 lbs – Lupita Godinez submits Silvana Gomez Juarez by Armbar in Round 1, 4:14
Godinez's first-round armbar was the month's first UFC win for Canada — a submission finish on a Vegas card is the kind of result that keeps a strawweight's run moving upward.
King of the Cage – Niagara Falls – Oct. 9
TV:
145 lbs – Hondo Guttierez submits Alex Moher by Anaconda Choke in Round 2, 0:45
Moher's second-round anaconda loss was the month's home-border regional result — KOTC's Niagara cards have been a steady outlet for fighters on both sides of the border.
UFC Fight Night 195 – Las Vegas- Oct. 16
TV: TSN
115 lbs – Luana Carolina defeats Lupita Godinez by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Godinez's decision loss to Carolina a week later was the month's rematch-of-fortune — back-to-back UFC bookings in nine days is the kind of volume few fighters get, and the split outcome tells you how competitive she stayed.
Bellator 268 – Phoenix – Oct. 16
TV: YouTube
155 lbs – Lance Gibson defeats Raymond Pina by TKO (Punches) in Round 2, 1:44
125 lbs – Sumiko Inaba submits Randi Field by Arm-Triangle Choke in Round 2, 2:02
Gibson's second-round TKO in Phoenix was the month's Bellator finish for Canada — a stoppage on Bellator's stage keeps a lightweight's international record moving.
UFC Fight Night 196 – Las Vegas – Oct. 23
TV: TSN
115 lbs – Randa Markos defeats Livinha Souza by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Markos's decision win over Souza gave the month a third Canadian UFC result — a veteran strawweight taking a scorecard win on three consecutive Vegas cards is the kind of consistency that keeps a roster run alive.
XMMA 3 – Miami – Oct. 23
TV:
135 lbs – Edir Terry defeats Tyler Wilson by Unanimous Decision
205 lbs – Gabriel Checco defeats Simon Marini by TKO (Punches) in Round 1, 2:45
Wilson's decision loss to Terry and Marini's result in Miami closed the month's U.S. regional ledger — XMMA's cards have been a regular second home for Canadians working the southern circuit.
PFL 2021 Championships – Florida – Oct. 27
TV: TSN Direct
145 lbs – Julia Budd (15-3) vs. Kaitlin Young (12-11-1)
Budd's title-fight matchup with Young was the month's championship-stage booking — a PFL final is the biggest single-fight platform the season format offers, and a Canadian headlining it mattered.
UAE Warriors 24 – Abu Dhabi – Oct. 29
TV:
185lbs- KB Bhullar (9-2) vs. Tarek Suleiman (11-7)
Bhullar's bout with Suleiman kept the Abu Dhabi thread alive — UAE Warriors' cards have been a steady mid-month home for Canadian middleweights and bantamweights all year.
ONE Championship – Singapore – Oct. 29
TV:
265 lbs – Dustin Joynson (6-0) vs. Kirill Grishenko (4-0)
Joynson's heavyweight bout with Grishenko closed October's slate on ONE's Singapore stage — the promotion's year-end cards have been a consistent international outlet for Canadian fighters.
