Rory MacDonald’s nose is a problem and he has ‘no idea’ how to solve it

UFC welterweight Rory Mac has been left looking for solutions after repeatedly breaking his nose.

There’s something of an anecdote in MMA that says, a facial injury can change a fighter’s career forever. Every longtime fan remembers what happened to Josh Koscheck after his orbital got broken. Every fight after that it seemed, at some point he’d start rubbing his eye, perhaps reflexively trying to wipe away the memory and assure himself it wasn’t getting broken again.

The problem, of course, is that facial injuries, unlike injures to legs or arms or ribs or any of the other litany of things that can happen, are front and center to a fighter’s craft. If you fight, you’re going to get hit in the face, a lot, that’s how the sport is won and lost. They don’t call it “face punching” for nothing.

All of that means former welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald has a big problem. His nose is busted, again. Back at UFC 189, last July, UFC champ Robbie Lawler shattered MacDonald’s nose, transforming his face into a pulpy mess and eventually getting the TKO when Rory collapsed under the repeated trauma to his busted snout. Late in his fight against Stephen Thompson, it broke again, and when it did MacDonald immediately looked stunned. But apparently, as MacDonald explained at the post-fight presser, that’s not the only time it’s happened since his title shot (transcript via MMA Fighting):

“I don’t know,” he said. “I broke it actually a couple times before this fight. I have no idea what to do. I gave it time, it kept breaking. I don’t know if surgery is gonna be the best route. I really just have to take time. I’d probably at least look into surgery, see if that can make it stronger, because just time off didn’t do sh*t.”

“I don’t know what it was,” MacDonald said. “I was just trying to throw combinations and tuck my head. Something landed and I felt the waterfall start. The familiar feeling.”

And while he’s not sure of the exact solution, it seems that the first step forward will be “time” and “surgery”. Hopefully that can be the long term solution he’s looking for, because if not, it’s not hard to imagine Rory’s broken nose becoming a theme for the rest of his career.

UFC welterweight Rory Mac has been left looking for solutions after repeatedly breaking his nose.

There’s something of an anecdote in MMA that says, a facial injury can change a fighter’s career forever. Every longtime fan remembers what happened to Josh Koscheck after his orbital got broken. Every fight after that it seemed, at some point he’d start rubbing his eye, perhaps reflexively trying to wipe away the memory and assure himself it wasn’t getting broken again.

The problem, of course, is that facial injuries, unlike injures to legs or arms or ribs or any of the other litany of things that can happen, are front and center to a fighter’s craft. If you fight, you’re going to get hit in the face, a lot, that’s how the sport is won and lost. They don’t call it “face punching” for nothing.

All of that means former welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald has a big problem. His nose is busted, again. Back at UFC 189, last July, UFC champ Robbie Lawler shattered MacDonald’s nose, transforming his face into a pulpy mess and eventually getting the TKO when Rory collapsed under the repeated trauma to his busted snout. Late in his fight against Stephen Thompson, it broke again, and when it did MacDonald immediately looked stunned. But apparently, as MacDonald explained at the post-fight presser, that’s not the only time it’s happened since his title shot (transcript via MMA Fighting):

“I don’t know,” he said. “I broke it actually a couple times before this fight. I have no idea what to do. I gave it time, it kept breaking. I don’t know if surgery is gonna be the best route. I really just have to take time. I’d probably at least look into surgery, see if that can make it stronger, because just time off didn’t do sh*t.”

“I don’t know what it was,” MacDonald said. “I was just trying to throw combinations and tuck my head. Something landed and I felt the waterfall start. The familiar feeling.”

And while he’s not sure of the exact solution, it seems that the first step forward will be “time” and “surgery”. Hopefully that can be the long term solution he’s looking for, because if not, it’s not hard to imagine Rory’s broken nose becoming a theme for the rest of his career.