Canada, our neighbors to the north, has long been a breeding ground for high-level MMA talent, and that is as true as ever in 2024. While the shadow of Georges St-Pierre continues to loom large, and the recent retirement of Rory MacDonald hurts to an extent, Canadian fighters are still making waves across promotions worldwide, proving that the Great White North is still very relevant in the modern landscape.
No matter whether they identify as high-ceiling prospects, established contenders and everything in between, these are the 10 best Canadian MMA fighters in 2024. Many of these names will ring a bell regardless of how deep your MMA fandom goes, and you may particularly recognize these fighters if you bet on numerous MMA events at Twin.com in Canada.
10 – Charles Jourdain
Jourdain is a difficult fighter to pin down. He is inconsistent from performance to performance. He is 2-4 in his last six fights, and yet, he has shown to be on the level of a gatekeeper to the top-25 in the UFC featherweight division, one of the promotion’s deepest and most talent-rich.
He is also one of the most exciting fighters in the division. He didn’t get the nickname “Air” for nothing, after all. Out of six UFC wins, four have ended in finish, and typically in highlight-reel fashion (see the Doo Ho Choi knockout).
9 – Gavin Tucker
The “Guv’nor” has seen better days inside the UFC cage, having fallen in consecutive fights to Dan Ige and Diego Lopes. However, both Ige and Lopes are clear top-15 fighters in the division, so they support Tucker’s strength of schedule at 38-years-old.
Tucker certainly makes a strong case as one of the most talented fighters to come out of Canada, at least at 145 pounds, though inactivity and difficulty with the injury bug will likely hamper the way people see his career. It’s unfortunate, because from a skills standpoint, there’s not much Tucker can’t do.
8 – Mandel Nallo
The free-swinging Nallo has a lot going for him: like Jourdain, he fights an exciting style, he trains out of a proven Canadian gym in Tri-Star, and is tall and long for the lightweight division. However, he is also no spring chicken at 35-years-old, and currently on the outside looking in of any major promotion following a five-year stint in Bellator.
The good news for Nallo is that since leaving Bellator, he is 4-0 on the Canadian regional circuit and perhaps just needs to be in the right place at the right time to get a call from the UFC or another major promotion. When he does, his progress should be closely monitored.
7 – Arjan Bhullar
Like some of the other names at this portion of this list, Arjan Bhullar, the former One FC Heavyweight champion has seen better days and come back down to earth, so to speak, in his last couple outings. He is no longer the One FC champion, but still a very good heavyweight given the overall weakness of the division on a global scale.
Bhullar also fought in the UFC for a time and gave a good account of himself with wins in three of four fights. He has teased stints in pro wrestling in the past, and now 38, it will be telling to see how much Bhullar has left in the tank.
6 – Jeremy Kennedy
Xtreme Couture’s Jeremy Kennedy may be the most underrated Canadian fighter in the world thanks, in part, to his strength of schedule. Kennedy only loses to the best fighters in the world: 16-1 Alexander Volkanovski (who needs no introduction), 33-1 Luis Rafael Laurentino, 16-1 Adam Borics, and 35-7 Patricio Pitbull. Because of this, it’s reasonable to think Kennedy could quickly make a name for himself in the UFC.
However, the other side of that coin is that Kennedy has often come up short in the biggest fights of his career. He did get some revenge on Laurentino with a second-round stoppage in their PFL rematch though, and like Tucker, this is a fighter who knows few true weaknesses in his skillset.
5 – Gillian Robertson
Gillian Robertson is arguably the greatest Canadian female fighter of all time. This may seem surprising considering her skillset has never evolved past a grappling-centric approach and her standup remains below average for women’s MMA, but the numbers don’t lie: Robertson owns the most finishes in UFC women’s flyweight history and the most submission wins for any woman in UFC history.
She has flirted with the top-15 in the past in two divisions, and while not every fight has been classified as winnable for her, Robertson has always shown she can get back up when knocked down, both figuratively and literally. Since dropping down to strawweight, she owns a 3-1 record.
4 – Hakeem Dawodu
Like many compatriots on this list, Hakeem Dawodu knows few weaknesses inside the cage. He has ranked in the top-15 in the past, but has seen some negative fortunes as of late as a victory in just one of his last four fights.
Dawodu has fast hands and flashed some underrated takedown defense against Zubaira Tukhugov when they fought in Abu Dhabi, but has lack of fight-altering power has held him back in his climb up the rankings. Still, Dawodu’s skills speak for themselves with how well he is able to attack his opponents dynamically.
3 – Mike Malott
From an eye-test standpoint, Mike Malott might be the most talented Canadian fighter in the world today. He has so many ways to finish the fight, and while he doesn’t shy away from an old-school brawl, Malott has also flashed a sleek ground game with a guillotine choke and arm triangle on his UFC record.
The one-time opponent of Dawodu has struggled, however, when his opponents have been able to extend him. Cardio king Neil Magny was able to execute that gameplan when they fought earlier this year, but Magny is a tough out for anyone, and Malott will find himself in a nice bounce-back spot against Trevin Giles next month.
2 – Aaron Jeffery
Jeffery has had a ton of success over the last five years of his career, and his resume is among the most unique of any fighter on this list, bar for maybe the top choice. He appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series, challenging middleweight contender Caio Borralho in a close fight where Borralho ultimately did not receive a UFC contract. He has also fought names likes Andre Petroski and Brendan Allen, so Jeffery is extremely tested for a fighter outside the walls of the UFC.
Jeffery fits the mold of a Canadian fighter who is great at mixing up his offense while keeping himself out of jeopardy defensively. However, he has struggled, at times, with fighters who can outwork him over three rounds. Were he in the UFC, he would surely push for a top-15 rankings though, considering that many of the top fighters at middleweight have serious deficiencies in one key MMA discipline.
1 – Brad Katona
It’s not going to be a popular pick, but Brad Katona is currently the most consistent Canadian fighter going today, and thus, the top Canadian fighter in the world today. Katona fights in a talent-rich UFC bantamweight division, having previously competed at 145 pounds. He earned his way back to the UFC by picking up championship gold in BRAVE CF, and then by winning TUF 31, a season that pitted top prospects against UFC veterans.
Since landing back with the UFC, Katona is 2-1, having only come up short to Garrett Armfield in a fight in which he was simply outvolumed. The knock on Katona is that he tends to be relatively low-volume, but he is also one of the most efficient offensive fighters in the division based on what he’s shown since returning. He has shown he can lean into a grappling-heavy approach if necessary, and his ability to dictate the terms of the fight will make him a tough out for most 135’ers, as talented of a division as it is.
