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When legendary Welterweight champion Matt Hughes quipped back in 2004 about the shame of “losing to a Canadian in a fist fight” it seemed pretty appropriate. After all, at that time, Canada had barely seen any successful fighters venture into the UFC. In the past decade or so though, all that has changed dramatically.
Canada has now produced some of the most successful UFC fighters in recent years, with a great deal of the success coming down to the success of a big-time Canadian training camp –Firas Zahabi’s Tri-Star team from Montreal, Quebec. But who are the very best Canadian fighters to step into the UFC’s Octagon? Here are my top five.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
TJ Grant – Grant came into the UFC as a mid-level Welterweight known primarily for his grappling, but by 2012 a drop to 155lbs and a dramatic improvement in his Muay Thai game made him one of the most feared Lightweights on the roster. In 2013 he knocked out Gray Maynard to earn a shot at the Lightweight title, but a severe concussion forced him out of the bout and issues with post-concussion syndrome have seen him sidelined since.
Gary Goodridge – ‘Big Daddy’ was a pioneer in the early days of the UFC – going way back to his debut at UFC 8 – and he was responsible for one of the most memorable knockouts of the early days with his vicious elbow assault on Paul Herrera. But he didn’t have any genuine success despite reaching one tournament final and one semi-final.
Alexis Davis – A skilled grappler, Davis earned a title shot at Women’s Bantamweight with her impressive wins over Rosi Sexton, Liz Carmouche and Jessica Eye. But her general lack of natural athleticism was always going to catch up with her and she was finished by Ronda Rousey in under a minute. She’s now settled into a gatekeeper role in the UFC which is fine for her but she doesn’t quite make this list.
Sam Stout – Kickboxer Stout was nicknamed ‘Hands of Stone’, but was more renowned for his chin of granite, as he could take insane amounts of punishment in his prime with no real issues. Although he never truly impacted the title picture at 155lbs, his wars with the likes of Spencer Fisher, Joe Lauzon and Matt Wiman were truly memorable. He retired in 2015 after his legendary chin finally began to fail him.
#5 Mark Hominick
A phenomenally skilled and accurate striker in his prime, Hominick’s UFC story is a tale of two halves. He first came into the Octagon at 155lbs in 2006 – moving up from his natural 145lbs – and immediately made an impact by submitting the then-#1 ranked UFC Lightweight Yves Edwards with a shock triangle choke. A win over TUF star Jorge Gurgel followed, but for unknown reasons, he wasn’t brought back by Zuffa until they bought out the WEC in 2007 and added him to the Featherweight roster.
Hominick lost his first two WEC bouts, but then went on to win three in a row, and when the UFC absorbed the WEC’s roster in 2011, he was placed into a title eliminator against George Roop, with the winner earning a shot at Jose Aldo’s 145lbs belt. Hominick delivered a first-round knockout, which set up the biggest fight of his career – a fight with Aldo that would take place in Hominick’s hometown of Toronto, Ontario.
Hominick lost the fight by a unanimous decision, but most observers agreed that he’d given the Brazilian champion one of the toughest fights of his career, as despite suffering a bad head injury, he was able to win the final round of the fight. Unfortunately, Hominick’s career then went on a slide and three subsequent losses forced him into retirement. In his prime, though, he was one of Canada’s finest exports into the UFC and his title fight with Aldo remains a classic.
#4 Patrick Cote
It was 2004 when Cote was signed by the UFC, at the time as a chubby 205-lber. He was pegged to face Marvin Eastman in his UFC debut but was thrown into much deeper water when he agreed to fight Tito Ortiz on late notice in the main event of UFC 50. Cote lost to Ortiz by decision but put up enough of a fight to be kept on by the UFC as a 185lber, although he ended up losing his next two fights as well and was subsequently released.
2006’s Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback series gave ‘The Predator’ a path to return to the Octagon, and he made it to the finals, where he was submitted by Travis Lutter. It would be the last time Cote would lose in the UFC for some time, as he ripped off a four-fight win streak that earned him a Middleweight title shot against Anderson Silva in October 2008.
Despite putting up a good fight, Cote blew his knee out in the third round, ending his title challenge. That was the highest he made it up the card, but he was able to stick around for almost another decade as a reliable action fighter, winning a further six UFC fights and successfully coaching a Canadian Ultimate Fighter team in 2014 too. His 2017 retirement was an emotional one as he’d become one of the most popular Canadian fighters of all time.
#3 Carlos Newton
Newton might’ve fought his final UFC outing way back in 2004 – prior to the TUF boom and the explosion of popularity for MMA worldwide – and he might now be persona non grata in the eyes of the UFC brass thanks to his support for the expansion of boxing’s Muhammad Ali Act into MMA – a move which would essentially kill the UFC’s business model – but he earns a spot on this list for being one of just two UFC champions from the Great White North.
Known as ‘The Ronin’, Newton debuted in the Octagon way back at UFC 17 and gained a reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in the world due to his unbelievable athleticism, slick grappling and reckless striking game. His title win came at 170lbs in 2001, as he choked out legendary champion Pat Miletich with a rare bulldog choke, unseating a man who had held the belt going back into the UFC’s ‘Dark Ages’. Young, good-looking and charismatic, Newton was then pushed as one of Zuffa’s early poster boys.
Unfortunately, his title run didn’t last too long. In one of the most exciting fights in UFC history, he lost the belt in his first title defence to Matt Hughes in what was a controversial finish – Newton’s triangle choke caused Hughes to partially pass out, but in doing so he slammed Newton on his head, knocking him unconscious. A rematch went Hughes’s way in more dominant fashion and Newton left the UFC for a while before making an unsuccessful 2004 comeback. His title win in itself definitely earns him a spot here though even if his UFC run was generally brief.
#2 Rory MacDonald
Now plying his trade in Bellator MMA, when he emerged onto the UFC scene in 2010 at the age of just 20, many observers expected Welterweight Rory MacDonald to go on to great things in the Octagon and for the most part, they were right. He’d already been fighting professionally for five years – since he turned 16 – prior to his UFC debut, and his early UFC outings were fantastic. Wins over Mike Guymon, Nate Diaz, Mike Pyle and Che Mills were only offset by a tight loss to future champion Carlos Condit.
2012 was Rory’s real breakthrough year, as he brutally beat down the legendary BJ Penn, sending him into temporary retirement. A dull win over Jake Ellenberger followed, before a close loss to Robbie Lawler knocked him out of title contention. MacDonald recovered with three straight wins – including one over Tyron Woodley – to earn a title shot and a rematch with Lawler, who’d gone on to win the belt.
Rory’s title fight with Lawler remains one of the greatest in UFC history; the two men went to war for five rounds before Lawler stopped MacDonald by shattering his nose in the fifth round. A year on the shelf followed before a disappointing loss to Stephen Thompson ended ‘The Red King’s UFC run. But he remains one of the best 170lbers on the planet despite being in Bellator now, and his huge wins – Penn, Diaz, Maia, Woodley, Ellenberger – definitely earn him this spot.
#1 Georges St-Pierre
Simply put, GSP is not just the best fighter in the history of Canadian MMA, but he’s also probably the best fighter in the history of MMA, period. His dominant Welterweight title run from 2008 through to 2013 already put him high in the conversation for being the greatest, but his return from retirement and Middleweight title win has put him right at the top of the mountain.
The successor to Frank Shamrock’s style of being world-class in every single area of MMA – from wrestling to jiu-jitsu to striking – St-Pierre was able to beat his opponents with a variety of different attacks, including huge takedowns and stifling top control, and a slick boxing game that usually saw him deploy the best jab in the MMA world. And he had a ton of heart too, as was demonstrated in his gutsy wins over BJ Penn, Carlos Condit and Johny Hendricks.
Perhaps his greatest accomplishment? The fact that he ran through what was essentially three different generations of contenders at 170lbs. His initial rise to the top saw him tear through the likes of Frank Trigg, Karo Parisyan, Sean Sherk and Matt Hughes; his early title run saw him get past tremendous fighters such as BJ Penn, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck, and later on he overcame the challenge of hungry fighters like Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz and Johny Hendricks.
Anderson Silva and Demetrious Johnson might have more title defences to their name but neither man made world-class opposition look quite as overmatched as GSP did in his prime. His opponents simply couldn’t come close to matching him. How much longer he can last now – especially at a blown-up 185lbs – is anyone’s guess, but to see him fighting again is in itself a pleasure. He’s the best fighter Canada has ever produced by a mile.
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