The UFC Vancouver bout between Mike Malott and Kevin Holland was one of the night’s most talked-about fights. In the very first round, Holland took a brutal shot to the groin and another later in the round that sent him crashing to the canvas in agony. Referee Dan Miragliotta granted the Travis Lutter BJJ team member a full five-minute recovery window, issuing only a warning to Malott.

Despite that, Holland was visibly in pain, repeatedly clutching his groin and struggling to stay composed through the rest of the round. Even after a doctor was called in, he couldn’t give a clear answer about whether he wanted to continue. As the fight wore on, ‘Proper’ capitalized and did enough to secure the win. However, the incident overshadowed the injuries the Canadian had been nursing on his own.

Mike Malott describes his gruesome injury

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on his show recently, the Canadian addressed his injury right away. “I feel like my face looks more banged up than I am, but I felt great in that one,” Malott said right after connecting with Helwani via video conference. Naturally, Helwani asked the 33-year-old what happened to his nose. To that, Mike Malott quickly replied, “He punched me in it.” Sensing there was more to the story, Helwani pressed further.

Malott admitted he hadn’t realized the extent of his injury until after the fight. “It was a weird one. We got backstage, you know, I hadn’t seen it yet, but everyone was commenting on it,” Malott told Helwani. “They’re like, ‘Dude, that’s a weird cut on your face.’” Since the wound was taped up quite well with a bandage, Mike Malott went on to describe the gruesome cut in detail.

“It kind of looks like I had a hoop nose ring that got ripped out,” Malott said during the interview. “Like my nose is slit. So, I’ve got five stitches in my nose, one in my septum, and then four on the outside of the nose.” It seems both fighters left the Octagon bruised and battered—but Mike Malott also revealed that he and Kevin Holland had a brief confrontation backstage after the fight. 

Malott recalls a confrontation with Kevin Holland backstage

Later in the interview, Helwani recalled spotting Malott and Holland speaking backstage and promptly asked what the exchange was about. The Canadian didn’t hold back, explaining that Holland wasn’t exactly pleased about the repeated groin shots. “Backstage, we communicated. I was like, ‘Hey man, sorry for the groin shots, hope you’re alright.’”

According to Mallot, Holland wasn’t very forgiving. “He was like, ‘That was cheap, man, that was cheap.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, do you think I’m trying to kick you in the groin? That’s not what I came here to do.’” Malott insisted that he meant no harm and tried to make things right. “I tried to apologize a couple of times, we’re in there fighting man—stuff happens.”

He further clarified his stance, adding, “What do you want me to do, man? I’m not a dirty fighter, I’m not out there trying to do anything greasy. I just wanted to go out there and have a good performance.”

That being said, it seems tensions from the Octagon almost carried over backstage—but thankfully, they didn’t. Still, the in-ring controversy ended up overshadowing Mallot’s own injuries from the fight. What are your thoughts on Mallot’s condition? Should referee Dan Miragliotta have deducted a point?