Athletes
A Wild Couple Of Weeks For Kyle Prepolec
Canadian Veteran Discusses Short-Notice Return To UFC Against Benoît Saint Denis
Ten days ago, Kyle Prepolec got a call to compete in Montreal this week, and the veteran from Windsor, Ontario was rightfully pumped for the opportunity.
Three-and-a-half years after he last competed in the epicenter of Canadian MMA, the 35-year-old was headed back, called on short notice to square off with Michael Dufort in a rematch of their standout battle in the main event of Samourai MMA 1 this Friday night. Less than a week later, he was out of the bout with Dufort, and headed back to the UFC, replacing Joel Alvarez opposite Benoit Saint Denis in Saturday’s UFC 315 pay-per-view main card opener.
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“It’s a crazy rollercoaster,” Prepolec said on Wednesday evening, a smile understandably plastered across his face. “It’s like, ‘Aw sick — we got a fight!’ We’re on the up and then it’s like, UFC’s here!’ and that’s an unbelievable opportunity and I’m here to seize it.
“This is a blessing and I’m gonna make the most of it.”
The last couple of weeks have been the positive side of being a battle-tested veteran that is always ready, as Prepolec was first able to jump at the opportunity to run things back with Dufort and then quickly pivot and agree to make the walk to the Octagon this weekend.
But as any fighter that competes on the regional circuit can tell you, weeks like Prepolec has had as of late are far less common than what his last few years have been like.
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The Premier Mixed Martial Arts representative had a two-fight cup of coffee in the UFC in 2019, debuting on short notice, up a division in Ottawa against Nordine Taleb before returning to lightweight to face Austin Hubbard in Vancouver. He dropped both bouts and was released from the promotion in March 2020.
Injuries and the COVID pandemic kept him out of action until his win over Dufort in November 2021, which was followed by a loss to fellow UFC veteran Shane Campbell five months later under the Unified MMA banner. Since then, he’s fought three times, winning all three bouts by first-round stoppage, while also having four bouts fall through for various reasons.
“It’s definitely been a wild ride, but I’m always in the gym anyway,” he said when asked about the challenging, often frustrating, nature of trying to secure fights on the regional circuit, especially in Canada, where options are limited. “Obviously it’s a different intensity when you’re in fight camp, but I would rather be staying active; I don’t want to let myself blow up or anything like that.
“When you get ready and then all of a sudden a guy gets hurt or day of the fight, they’re in the hospital, it’s like, ‘I’m glad he’s okay and he’s healthy, buy holy s***, man — we just did all that, put our body through so much; what do we do?’ So we regroup, don’t dwell on it and keep moving forward, push past it.
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“And now I’m rewarded for that, so that’s good.”
Asked if there were times over the last couple of years where he’s sat down and asked himself why he continues to chase these opportunities, Prepolec acknowledged those questions have popped into his head from time to time.
“Sometimes you’re just like, ‘How many more cancellations am I gonna have to deal with? Is this gonna keep happening?’” he said, still smiling. “It’s almost better to have the benefit of the doubt because anything is possible and it’s not always going to be like that, but there have been times where I’ve been like, ‘You have got to be kidding me. Again? AGAIN?’”
He laughed at the harsh reality, echoing a sentiment shared by competitors at all levels that have faced myriad cancellations.
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"Now it’s at the point where when it was happening, we weren’t surprised,” he admitted. “We’re just gonna wait until the door is locked and then go, and that’s it.”
And that’s the mindset he’s carrying into his return to the Octagon this weekend against Saint Denis.
“It’s huge,” he began when asked about the chance to kick off this weekend’s pay-per-view return to the Bell Centre and face off with the all-action standout from France. “It’s like ‘Here’s your lottery ticket! This is the winner’ so now we’ve gotta go claim it.”
For Prepolec, the fact that he’s been through this exact scenario before in his promotional debut against Taleb is undeniably helpful, and the short-notice nature of things has definitely made rolling into Montreal and going through the standard pre-fight paces a little less stressful than it may be for newcomers making their debuts or those experiencing a short-notice call-up for the first time.
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There are still nerves to contend with, but this time around, it’s strictly the good kind of nerves — the excited butterflies that come with knowing you’re about to step out in front of 20,000 fans in a bout against a ranked opponent, with a chance to change the direction of your career in 15 minutes or less.
“It definitely does help,” he said of his previous experience under these circumstances and in the UFC, in general. “We’ve already gotten our feet wet, so let’s proceed and do our thing with no stress. Let’s just go in and have fun.
“The nerves are still there, but it’s the excitement of it,” continued Prepolec, who is 3-0 in his career in Montreal, and returns to the UFC sporting an 18-8 record overall. “For me, I know that the reward is so much greater than the risk, so it’s a no-brainer for me.
“I can do this. I can beat this guy. I think I can beat anybody; I’ve just got to touch him once, that’s it.”
While how things shake out this weekend is in the hands of the Fight Gods, the fact that Prepolec is days away from getting to walk out to the Octagon and compete on the biggest stage in the sport again means everything to the Canadian veteran.
“It means the world,” he said when asked about striding out to the cage on Saturday. “This is somewhere I always wanted to be. I was supremely thrilled I got here in 2019, but it’s even better to persevere and come back after all these years.
“I want to be here, I want to stay here, and I want to finish here, so it means the world.”
UFC 315: Muhammad vs Della Maddalena took place live from Bell Centre in Montréal, Québec, Canada on May 10, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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