Kyle Prepolec once stepped onto MMA's grandest platform and now he's driven by an even stronger desire to get back there.
The Prepolec (14-7) from Windsor, Ont., faces Michael Dufort (8-3) in the Samourai MMA 1 headliner on Friday evening, marking his first appearance inside the octagon since leaving the UFC. The bout sits atop the card for a lightweight matchup.
Prepolec, 32, got his shot at a UFC debut when he took on Nordine Taleb in May 2019 on short notice, but the experience didn't pan out. He lost both bouts in the promotion, including a unanimous decision loss to Austin Hubbard a few months down the line. Following that defeat, the UFC parted ways with Prepolec after doctors diagnosed him with rhabdomyolysis—a serious condition triggered by muscle tissue breakdown.
"Rhabdo is still pretty uncommon among athletes," Prepolec told MMA Empire. "They just didn't want to risk a liability situation where something preventable could happen to someone's health. They saw me as a liability."
"We were hoping for a third bout, but life happens and I completely get it. What if it happened again, or what if the outcome turned out much worse?"
After being cut from the UFC, Prepolec said he felt deeply appreciative of the organization's efforts to help him access the medical care necessary to recover.
"Even after the fight, they provided me a year's worth of insurance to travel across the border and figure out what was going on—all the possibilities. I had a biopsy done in Canada, which got us the answers we needed," Prepolec explained.
"At that point I was basically a non-entity in the UFC, yet they said they'd help me navigate this, fly me to the States, cover everything. I was blown away—thinking 'I'm nobody, and you're going above and beyond like this?' That was incredible."
With more than two years having passed since his final MMA contest, Prepolec is focused on climbing back toward MMA's highest level—the UFC.
A victory against a skilled and emerging fighter like Dufort represents the ideal starting point for that ambition.
"That's the objective—to build a career, earn a living, and ultimately retire inside the UFC," Prepolec said. "That's the dream: to reach the top and become one of the best."
"It's all about taking one fight at a time. Fighting someone like Michael Dufort—his abilities, visibility, talent, and solid record—he's rising fast and people are watching. Beating someone like that keeps eyes open and might even earn me that call back."
Across his career, Prepolec has consistently proven dangerous on his feet, with seven of his fourteen victories coming by knockout or TKO.
As he prepares for this matchup, Prepolec noted he's focused heavily on improving his grappling to counter Dufort's ground-game threats.
"I know he's tough, but everyone's tough in this sport. He's highly skilled at what he does," Prepolec said.
"He excels at setting up guillotines and hunting for chokes—which is perfectly fine, nothing unusual. Just avoid playing into his game. He'll be doing the same to me and avoiding my strengths. It's going to be a clash between elite fighters, and whoever executes better rises to the top."
Prepolec's Shoutouts
"Liuna, IBEW, Elite Training Systems, Maximum Training Centre, Penalty Box Restaurant, all training partners and coaches, House of Champions, Aegis MMA, all other gyms that helped me out, Border City Boxing Club, Tecumseh Jiu-Jitsu, HTA Windsor, HQ Nutrition, my friends and family, and my girlfriend." Follow Prepolec on social media: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM
