Athletes
Julien Leblanc’s Moment Has Finally Arrived
Resilient Canadian Middleweight Discusses Long Road To UFC Debut At UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Malott In Winnipeg
Last March, Julien Leblanc registered a third-round doctor’s stoppage win over UFC alum Darian Weeks to claim the vacant Samourai MMA middleweight title.
His next bout eight months later was scheduled against Neemias Santana, who went the distance against Ilian Bouafia on Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series Season 9.
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For the longtime regional standout, consecutive wins over individuals with UFC connectivity felt like a sure-fire way to capture the promotion’s attention and perhaps get the call he’d been hoping to receive for the last several years. But in a career filled with cancellations, pandemics and injuries, things didn’t work out as planned: Santana withdrew and was replaced with fellow Canadian Ryan Rohovich, whom Leblanc dispatched with relative ease to register his fifth straight win and third straight finish.
“After the Ryan fight, in my head, it was maybe my last fight because I didn’t know what to expect,” admitted Leblanc, who makes his UFC debut this weekend in Winnipeg against Robert Valentin. “I just wanted to have no regrets. I just wanted to go in there from the beginning and fight hard. That’s what I did and I was happy with my performance, regardless of my opponent’s record.
“After the win, I was thinking, ‘I’m on a five-fight winning streak, three finishes in a row; I can’t stop like this.’”
In January, Leblanc was presented with the opportunity to participate in a retreat focused on brain health and processing past trauma, which he happily accepted, coming back a different person. An admitted slow starter, Leblanc used to always question his skills while fielding inquiries from family and friends about when he’s going to quit chasing his fighting dreams and fall back on his university degree. Now he's returned with even more drive and resolve.
When he ventured to Kill Cliff FC to help longtime friend and training partner Marc-Andre Barriault prepare for his bout against Michal Oleksiejczuk, the reports from everyone in the all-star gym were the same: this was a different, more focused, more confident fighter. Leblanc felt it too, and whether coincidental or cosmic, the call to compete inside the Octagon this weekend came soon after.
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“I went there for a week at the beginning of January and man, honestly, it transformed me,” Leblanc said of the retreat. “I came back from this knowing I’d changed.
“I know it’s not because of this, but the second I got back from this retreat, it’s like life said, ‘You’re ready for the UFC now,’ and then BOOM — I got the call.”
To say Leblanc was caught off-guard would be an understatement.
When this weekend’s fight card was set to take place in Ottawa, the 34-year-old was cautiously optimistic, as he would have been as close to a hometown fighter as there would have been on the card, as he lives just across the Ottawa River in neighboring Gatineau, Quebec. But the 34-year-old was also being hyper-realistic with himself, understanding that his age, the level of his most recent opponent and previous shortfalls when it came to UFC-adjacent opportunities might have been the signal that the call was never going to come.
“I was surprised because at this point — all respect to Ryan, but it was probably not a guy that I thought I would get a UFC call after that, so I was really, really surprised,” Leblanc said with a smile when asked about receiving the long-awaited call from his manager Stephane Patry to make his UFC debut. “Deep down I was praying for it because originally the show was going to be in Ottawa, so I was like, ‘I think I have a chance. If I have a chance, it’s this chance.’ At the same time, I was realistic about it with my age, I didn’t get on [Contender Series], all those things — got cut from The Ultimate Fighter; the season where my opponent went to the finals.
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“All of that was in my mind like, ‘Maybe they’re not interested in me,’ and that’s okay; it doesn’t define me. When Steph called me, I was like, ‘That’s crazy!’ and it’s like all the hard work, all the cancellations, the ups, the downs were all worth it.
“I just feel like right now, in my life, mentally, physically, I feel like it’s the perfect time for me to go in the UFC,” he added. “It’s not like I’m a used fighter. I didn’t have major wars or things like that. Now is the time I can get those wars and all those things.
“I really do feel like I’m in my prime. I know sometimes age plays against you, but right now is the time for me to show what I’m all about, and I’m grateful to the UFC for giving me my shot. I plan on making it count.”
Though he would have accepted an assignment anywhere in the world, the fact that his first walk to the Octagon gets to take place on Canadian soil is an added bonus to the French-Canadian newcomer.
“Ottawa would have been the cherry on top, but I’m already at the top,” he said with a smile. “It could have been anywhere in the world, and I would have been happy, but being in Canada is amazing. I’m a Canadian, making my debut in Canada, with the crowd hopefully on my side.
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“I’ve got like 40 people that are flying out, so it’s gonna be — my UFC debut would be something I remember regardless, but this makes it even more memorable. It’s a dream and I cannot wait.”
Saturday night, Leblanc will share the Octagon with Valentin, who enters with his back against the wall.
After a starring turn on Season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter, where he not only advanced to the finals but took on a coaching role with Team Grasso, the Swiss athlete has struggled to find success through his first three appearances. Naturally an aggressive, attacking fighter from the opening second, his current predicament is sure to spur him on further, and Leblanc knows that this is one instance where he cannot start slow and work his way into the fight.
“I know he’s gonna come out strong, and in the camp, that was one of my goals,” admitted Leblanc. “Sometimes I take a round, even in sparring, to warm up and I get better as we go, but this camp, it was ‘Right away; you’ve got to win the first round!’
“I’m expecting Robert to come out strong. He’s gonna be ready; he’s a good fighter.”
Reaching this stage is the culmination of a dream for everyone who gets the opportunity to step into the Octagon, but everyone’s journey is different, and for Leblanc, this has been more than a decade of navigating cancellations and opponent changes, missed opportunities and familial prompts to stop dreaming.
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Now, just when he was open to the likelihood that it would never happen and having momentarily pondered stepping away, he will finally make the walk, and it means more than he can even fully articulate.
“It will mean everything,” he said of competing and earning a victory on Saturday night. “Everything we’ve talked about, everything I went through, every time I doubted myself — starting from the guy that couldn’t do a pushup at 16 years old, who was getting called ‘The Asparagus’ by people at school — nobody in my life would have ever thought I would have fought and now being in the UFC, getting a win in my first fight is a story you can’t write.
“It would for sure — it already means everything but making it to the UFC is one thing; winning is another thing, and now that’s the goal. It’s always been the ultimate dream, and it would mean the world.”
UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Malott took place live from Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Canada on April 18, 2026. 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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