Who says Ontario can’t produce top-flight mixed martial artists?
Mitch Gagnon proved all the doubters wrong on Saturday night at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, as the pride of Sudbury captured a first-round submission victory over the previously-undefeated Dustin Kimura in a thrilling preliminary bout at UFC 165 that put all the fans in the building on their feet.
“I hit him with some big shots, he hit me with some big shots, and I thought it was going to be a long night,” Gagnon told Sportsnet’s Sophia Jurksztowicz after his win.
“But I got him with that body shot, he went for a takedown on me, and I got the guillotine and was able to finish it.”
The stunning performance won Gagnon a $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus and the 28-year-old improved to a healthy 10-2 in his career, which includes a solid 2-1 record in the UFC.
He was one of seven Canadian fighters to appear on the UFC 165 card, which included three from Ontario.
Yet, despite the home field advantage, only two – Gagnon and Montreal’s John Makdessi – emerged victorious.
There has been some criticism lately about the inability of the province of Ontario to produce elite mixed martial artists despite the fact Ontario is one of the largest MMA hotbeds in all of North America.
Much of this has to do with the fact that the province’s athletic commission requires a hefty fee for promoters to stage their events, which has resulted in just two MMA events in Canada’s most populated province so far in 2013 – UFC 165 last night, and Substance Cage Combat last June.
Because there aren’t many promotions with the cash needed to hold events in Ontario, there aren’t many events in the province and therefore it’s hard for the local fighters to get fights, which means they can’t improve. It’s a nasty cycle and it’s a large part of why Ontario doesn’t have any major star fighters in the UFC just yet.
But Gagnon can be that guy.
Against Kimura, Gagnon showed impressive striking skills that got the crowd really on their feet, and when he was able to lock down the guillotine choke for the finish the roof of the ACC nearly burst off from the fans’ uproar.
Although London, Ont.’s Chris Clements and Jesse Ronson also fought at UFC 165, neither fighter got a particularly loud reaction from the crowd at the weigh-ins or at the fight itself, and both of them lost their matches.
Gagnon, on the other hand, had the crowd’s support all week, and it certainly helped him in the fight with Kimura (10-1) during the pair’s early exchanges on the feet and then once he had the submission locked in.
“It feels great to win (in Toronto),” Gagnon said. “There was so much hype behind Kimura and he was undefeated, so it felt great to beat that high a calibre of a fighter on a win streak like that.”
Gagnon is now 2-0 when fighting in Ontario and both of those victories came on the big stage in the UFC.
The first came against Walel Watson at UFC 152 last year, when he knocked his lanky foe down and then submitted him with a rear-naked choke in the first round.
Gagnon then was forced to take a year off due to injuries, but he showed in his return against Kimura that the long layoff has only made him an even more dangerous mixed martial artist and that’s a dangerous proposition for anyone else in the UFC’s 135-pound division.
Although Gagnon lost his UFC debut to Bryan Caraway at UFC 149 last summer, he still showed excellent potential in that fight and since then he’s proven the hype he had before his UFC days was legit, as he’s finished his last two opponents in impressive fashion.
Now it’s time for him to get a step up.
For his next matchup, it might be nice to see Gagnon face adopted Canadian Yves Jabouin, who recently defeated Dustin Pague via split decision at UFC 161. Jabouin is a veteran of the sport and has experienced quite a bit of success at the higher levels of the sport, going 4-2 in the UFC and 5-4 overall in Zuffa.
He would provide a great test for Gagnon at this point of his career and although the UFC doesn’t typically match up Canadians against one another, this would be a fine exception to the rule as the fight would be very exciting.
Regardless of who the UFC matches him up with next, Gagnon has all the tools needed to be a top fighter in the sport,and he has the look to become a star, especially in his home province of Ontario. Basically, the future is very bright for this young man.
“I feel very secure here in the UFC. I feel like I’m not going to be losing my job any time soon,” a humble Gagnon added.
