Canadian fighter Jamie Siraj has finally made it to the UFC.
The featherweight has been added to the upcoming UFC Fight Night event in Winnipeg, where he will face American John Yannis in a 145-pound preliminary matchup.
The UFC officially announced Siraj’s addition to the card Thursday morning.
The 31-year-old is from Lower Mainland in B.C., and has trained out of the famous Tristar Gym in Montreal alongside current UFC contender Aiemann Zahabi plus former two-weight champion Georges St-Pierre, among other talent throughout Canadian mixed martial arts.
Siraj made his professional debut in 2014 and holds a 14-3 record, but his career has seen significant interruptions and setbacks.
Most notably, there was a four-year span from mid-2019 to mid-2023 during which Siraj did not compete due to life-threatening health issues.
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Canada’s Mike Malott and Brazil’s Gilbert Burns headline a Fight Night in Winnipeg. Watch all the UFC action on Saturday, April 18 on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+ with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT.
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“In 2020, I ended up getting a brain infection,” Siraj told UFC.com back in 2023 ahead of his scheduled comeback fight at the time. “I had to go into a coma, and in healing from that, my body developed an auto-immune disease that was attacking my body’s connective tissues. I ended up septic in the hospital a bunch of times, and then I was put in another coma and almost died at the beginning of 2022. “(From 2020 to 2023) I probably spent a year-and-a-half in the hospital.”
He has gone 6-1 since returning to competition less than three years ago and most recently has been competing in B.C.’s Battlefield Fight League.
Siraj is coming off consecutive second-round submission victories and his only loss since 2016 was early last year against Diego Brandao, a UFC veteran and past winner of The Ultimate Fighter. Other than that defeat, Siraj is 11-1 in the past decade.
Yannis, 31, is a 9-4 pro who lost his UFC debut last August when he was submitted by Austin Bashi in the opening round.
Siraj is one of nine Canadian-born fighters set for the UFC Winnipeg card, which is headlined by Ontario welterweight Mike Malott facing one-time title challenger Gilbert Burns of Brazil in a five-round main event.
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