Midnight Mania! Macdonald Happy Away From UFC’s ‘Fake’ 170-lb. Division

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Bellator welterweight champion Rory Macdonald is preparing for his superfight with Bellator middleweight champion, Gegard Mousasi, tomorrow night at arguably Bellator’s best-ever event on paper, Bellator 206. The event also features Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson 4, uber-prospect Aaron Pico, and an exciting fight in Bellator’s welterweight Grand Prix, Andrey Koreshkov vs. Douglas Lima, as well as Muay Thai spinning elbow master Gaston Bolanos.

Macdonald, aside from being on the wrong end of the greatest welterweight title fight of all time against Robbie Lawler, famously defeated current UFC champion Tyron Woodley by a wide margin back in 2014. He was asked if he still pays attention to the state of the UFC’s 170-lb. division. He does, and doesn’t seem sorry to have left it behind him.

I see what’s going on; Tyron’s doing very well. Seems very dramatic, from what I can tell, so I’m happy to not be a part of that. I’m happy that I’m fighting great competition over here, getting great opportunities. That’s it. Just enjoying my sport.

When asked what he meant about ‘drama’, Rory clarified that he meant all the trash talk between fighters.

I find that stuff just annoying, and fake, not what martial arts is about. I’m happy to be here, where I feel like mixed martial arts can be represented in a more old-fashioned way.

Rory is very open to the idea of facing Woodley again, and he thinks it would be a more difficult fight the second time around.

Sure, I think it would be a competitive fight. I think it would be more competitive than our last fight. I think Tyron had expressed he wasn’t at his best for that fight, and who knows, but when you are fighting the top five guys in the world, anything can happen. I would love to have that fight again, being that we are both champions of our weight divisions in different promotions. You never know what the future holds.

Gegard Mousasi, like Rory Macdonald at welterweight, could very well be the best fighter in the world at middleweight, having exited the UFC on a five-fight win streak that has since extended to seven in Bellator. Being in a promotion that runs a distant second to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in terms of size, market share and density of top talent means proving one is the very best can be a difficult task. Rory thinks his fight with Mousasi this weekend will bolster his claim, though he doesn’t worry too much about it at the end of the day.

Sure! This fight this weekend, it could be better for me in that argument. If I go up and I win a middleweight title, it improves my standing in that argument in people’s opinion. I’m not worried about it. It’s just people’s opinion. I’m going out, challenging myself and enjoying it.

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Insomnia

Leslie Smith confirms that the NLRB never reviewed the employee claims of UFC fighters, and will be appearing on an episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.

Your random fact for the day: Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz have 59 fights between them without pulling out of a single one.

I had to laugh at how perfectly this fit- credit to Derrick Lewis for finding a good one.

Tobin’s weightlifting buddy was making some petulant expressions at his hearing, and they have entered MMA memeography

Jon Jones wrote some savage words to Daniel Cormier and the two-weight champion threw it right back at him.

Khabib does have to stand up with McGregor… for at least a fraction of a second.

Find someone who won’t rip your yoga mat out from under you in a fit of rage, ideally.

Yeah, this was hilarious. Wait for Sage Northcutt

Nick Newell is stepping up his social media game

If I know Maniacs, this is worth your click.

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Slips, Rips, KO Clips

Oh MAN. This is one of those all-time classics, straight out of a movie

Speaking of classics, anyone remember this one?

Fantastic combination, the knee into the same-side punch is a classic, but turning the knee into a jump knee? Next level.

The rhythm on this

Brutal body kick

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