Athletes
Louis Jourdain Ready to Stand Alongside His Big Brother Again
Dana White’s Contender Series Grad Talks Reaching UFC, Dynamics With Older Brother Charles
The Jourdain Brothers have been training and fighting alongside one another since before they turned professional and began chasing their mixed martial arts dreams, but in 2026, they’ll get to do it on the biggest stage in the sport.
With his older brother Charles in his corner shouting instructions, Louis Jourdain methodically battered Magno Dias, brutalizing his lead leg through two rounds before coming out aggressively to start the third and wrapping up a no-hooks rear-naked choke less than 45 seconds into the frame to earn the victory. Less than an hour later, UFC President Dana White made it official, praising Jourdain’s efforts and awarding him a contract, making the Jourdains the first Canadian siblings to compete together in the UFC.
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“I think we made history, which is a good feeling, and also it proves that even though me and Charles are very different, we have very different personalities, you can do it if you work hard,” Jourdain said of the achievement a few weeks later in Vancouver, where he accompanied his big brother all week prior to watching Charles dominate and submit Davey Grant for his second consecutive finish since shifting to the bantamweight division. “That’s a message we want to put forward for the young generation: if you work hard, you can do it.”
The younger Jourdain’s journey hasn’t only been one of hard work, as the path from the regional ranks to the UFC has been littered with detours and delays for the talented 28-year-old.
Canada’s grassroots MMA scene has gone through numerous cycles over the years, and while promotions like Unified MMA, Battlefield Fight League, and Samourai MMA are currently providing consistent outlets for emerging hopefuls in Western Canada, Ontario, and Quebec, that hasn’t always been the case, and the lack of steady opportunities to compete can result in longer-than-desired gaps between appearances. The boys from Beloeil got rolling as professionals at roughly the same time, benefiting from the return of TKO in their home province, but while Charles used it as a launch pad to land a UFC opportunity, Louis wasn’t quite ready to make that leap, and when the promotion shut its doors again, the chances to compete became fewer.
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To make matters worse, the younger Jourdain was forced to deal with multiple health-related absences as well, including a knee injury contributed to a two-year stretch without a fight.
“Louis is a big symbol of resilience, which is your ability to bounce back,” Charles told me prior to his fight in Vancouver, still beaming about his brother’s success on Dana White’s Contender Series. “Where a lot of people would quit, Louis kept going, kept pushing; he always had that flame, and we always believed in him.”
“The harsh journey made it even more worth it, for now,” Louis said as we spoke about the setbacks along the way in Vancouver. “The emotion — I feel on my knees after I won the fight; I didn’t know if I would be getting the contract, but I definitely knew it was a good fight.
“Sixteen years in the making, with everything that happened, it just makes it even better.
“I think people mistook Charles’ success, I think they always thought that I was in his shadow, but like I’ve said, we’re two different (people),” continued Jourdain, echoing sentiments he shared at his media availability following his win on the final day of September and sentiments that are familiar to every younger brother that has followed a comparable path to their older sibling. “It’s because we’re brothers that everybody needs to compare me to him, but it definitely feels good to prove to the big brother that I also can do it. I always had a chip on my shoulder to do the same thing as him, so it feels good now.”
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Like most brothers, the Jourdains, who are 15 months and 15 days apart in age, had their battles during their youth, which carried over in the training room as they began their parallel journeys into the sport.
But they quickly learned they were better off working together than constantly battling each other, which continues to be the case today.
“First of all, I can never tell Charles what to do since he’s my big brother; he needs to tell me what to do, so that was the dynamic,” began the younger Jourdain, sharing another all-too-familiar dynamic for any younger sibling, me included. “What surprised people a little bit was that we were always training together, but it was hard because there was so much ego involved.
“When we were sparring, we couldn’t spar together because we would just throw down. As soon as I threw a little bit hard, he would throw harder, and it would end up in a war. We were training together, but not together, together; always in the same room, but it was a little difficult at first. We learned we’re more here to help each other than to compare (ourselves against one another).
“As soon as we learned that, we started training more together, and we became better because of that,” he added. “It’s always better as a team.”
They had hoped to fight “as a team” in Vancouver, but Louis came out of his Contender Series win over Dias a little banged up, and the card was already flush with matchups, relegating “The Mad Prince” to cornerman duties for the week. There were three instances where they did it in the past, and getting the opportunity to do it again in the biggest promotion in the sport would mean a great deal to the bantamweight brother tandem.
“Back in the day, we used to always fight on the same cards, and it was always motivating us,” said the DWCS grad. “Like I said, we have the same goal, we have the same two months of training, it lights a fire under us, it motivates us, and if one of us loses, it’s just gonna motivate the other to get the win. And if one wins, then you get even more pressure to win also.
“I think it helps us, and it would mean a lot to fight on the same card, and even better would be fighting on the same card in Canada.
“I think it’s harder to corner him,” continued the younger Jourdain. “When I fight, I’m focused on my fight, and I know he’s got it, but when I’m cornering, I feel like I need to bring something to help him, so it’s even more pressure. If I’m fighting, I’m focused on me, and if he’s fighting, I need to put all my energy on him. It’s almost like playing a video game: I want to do the work for him, I want to step in the Octagon; I see the elbow, and I want him to throw it, so it’s difficult to be on the (outside) speaking instead of doing.”
While it didn’t happen in Vancouver, the time will most likely come when the Jourdains fight on the same UFC event, and it would make a great deal of sense if that initial opportunity came in their home country, though neither is ever going to turn down an opportunity to compete just to share a cool moment that could be manufactured another time.
For now, they’re genuinely revelling in the fact that they’ve made history and reached the highest level of the sport together, and there is no one happier or more proud of Louis than his older brother, who stood alongside him in his post-fight interview on Contender Series and told everyone watching that his younger brother was the far superior of the two.
“I think Charles is a little humble,” offered Louis, showing his own humility. “He always tells everybody that I’m better than him, but Charles is very good.
“We don’t compare (ourselves to each other) — we’re just here to get better —but it feels even better than my big brother is saying it. I always get compliments from a lot of people, but since he’s my big brother, it means way more.”
Bantamweights beware —The Brothers Jourdain are ready to take over.
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