Rory MacDonald isn’t opposed to taking on heavy hitters.
In fact, his last outing forced him to go toe-to-toe with perhaps the heaviest hitter in all of the welterweight division, Robbie Lawler, in a championship fight that saw him go five rounds against “Ruthless” before falling to strikes in the final frame.
But according to Hector Lombard, “Red King” didn’t want to step back into the cage against another bruiser, which is why the two of them won’t be fighting anytime soon.
“I want to fight him, and I think the UFC wanted to make that fight happen — he’s the one that doesn’t want it,” Lombard told MMA Junkie after a seminar in London. “He’s the one who doesn’t want to fight.”
Hector wouldn’t go so far as to say Rory was scared, but instead labeled him “smart” for looking for a better 170-pound option in order to get back on the winning track. “He’s just taking the best options to get back on track again,” Lombard said.
“He knows I’m a bad match up for him, and he knows I hit hard. I wouldn’t call it scared. I would call it smart,” he concluded.
Lombard and MacDonald were set to duke it out last year before Hector was pulled due to a failed drug test. In his first fight back since his suspension wrapped, “Lightning” was booked to face off against Neil Magny at UFC Fight Night 85 on March 20 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
According to the report, Firas Zahabi — Rory’s head trainer — revealed that his pupil did not turn down the Lombard fight; meaning, if Hector has a gripe with anyone, it should be with UFC matchmakers.