John Oakes | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Rory MacDonald Changes His Tune After Defeat to Robbie Lawler at UFC 167

Rory MacDonald has captivated media and fans alike with both his prodigious talent and his loyal relationship with the champion of his division, Georges St-Pierre. His five-fight winning streak since a heart-breaking third-round TKO loss to Carlos Condit in 2010 had many claiming that MacDonald was ready for title contention. Media swarmed on the idea, too, as the inevitable drama arising from MacDonald fighting a mentor and teammate in GSP would certainly have been remarkable.

Rory MacDonald’s path to the top of his division has hit the rocks in 2013, though. After a widely-panned win over Jake Ellenberger at UFC on Fox 8 in July of this year, MacDonald stuck to his guns, claiming that he stood behind his approach to fighting Ellenberger, which others found to be “lackluster.”

“I was focused on the task at hand,”MacDonald told media after his fight, “and I was waiting for the knockout to come.”

Despite the controversy, beating the veteran Ellenberger put MacDonald one step closer to fighting for the title, but as we all know now, Robbie Lawler put the icing on the cake for MacDonald’s critics at UFC 167 earlier this month. The fight was competitive, and MacDonald claims it could have gone either way. In the shadow of the hotly-debated GSP/Hendricks split decision in the main event later that evening, though, the Lawler/MacDonald decision seemed relatively clear cut.

So where does that leave the erstwhile darling of the welterweight division?

According to MacDonald, it has left him to reconsider his mental state regarding his career.

“My fights before, the most exciting point for me was actually getting into the fight,” MacDonald told The MMA Hour Monday. “I was hungry. I wanted to destroy my opponents, and I was hungry. I had that fire in me to fight. I think it shows in both of my performances this year that I didn’t have that fire.”

This is a change in tune from the MacDonald who had previously only complimented his performance against Ellenberger. While he still claimed he fought a technically precise fight, his loss to Lawler has him more transparent about what he calls a lack of fun and enjoyment in both his recent fights.

“I didn’t enjoy them. I didn’t walk out of the cage knowing that I had fun,” he said. “Usually, win or lose, in my fights in the past, I’ve always had fun. I’ve always enjoyed my time fighting. This year I didn’t enjoy fighting.”

Although MacDonald has never been as brash as the Chael Sonnens and Connor McGregors of the MMA world, few have exactly accused him of humility. That is why it is hard to know how to interpret his sentiments of woe.

Are they indeed statements of contrition, reflecting a new-found epiphany that will lead him to new heights or regained Octagon glory, or are they the post-fight grumblings of a recent loser as he tries to justify the defeat in any terms other than “I may not actually be the best at this sport?”

The 24-year-old Canadian faces the unique challenge of passing through his younger years in the spotlight. While he is a man grown, anyone who tells you in hindsight that they would love to have had tons of media attention pointed at them in their early 20s is lying or delusional. Thus, the most important interpretation of MacDonald’s recent revelations could be this: He is a young man with great talents and a bright future, and he is trying to process defeat as best he can while maintaining the confidence that he can be the best in the world.

Why would we expect a fighter with the mentality of a champion to admit that they aren’t the best? That is not lying, per se. Truth being in the eye of the beholder, don’t future champions have to think that they are the best? You can’t ask a man who steps into a cage to fight for a living to be too self-depricating. So what is the harm if he wants to blame his loss on not having enough fun in the cage, so long as he changes course and finds a winning way?

While some may take MacDonald’s words as proof of arrogance or humility, I tend to take them as proof that the young MacDonald is still determined to find that path to the top. While the hype may prove too much too soon, there may be something to this “future contender” talk after all.

What do you think of MacDonald’s future prospects? Tell us in the comments below!

Follow John Oakes on Twitter

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Struggling TUF 18, Rousey vs. Tate Limps Toward a Lackluster Finale

Saturday, season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter reaches its tournament finals. Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey have headlined the season to much fanfare. While Tate seems to have emerged from the TV show the popular victor, their bout to decide the bantamweig…

Saturday, season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter reaches its tournament finals. Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey have headlined the season to much fanfare. While Tate seems to have emerged from the TV show the popular victor, their bout to decide the bantamweight championship will have to wait until Dec. 28 for UFC 168.

Coaches’ bouts rarely have graced the finale cards, but normally, they happen within a week of the season finale. Having the coaches fight nearly a month later may disassociate the TUF finale from the celebrities who were supposed to make this season of TUF compelling to viewers once again.

Isn’t it baffling that Rousey/Tate II will serve as co-main event for the Silva/Weidman rematch, which will completely overshadow it? It should be, at least a little, since the Rousey/Tate matchup has all the star power to headline an event on its own, for instance TUF finale.

The UFC’s initial offering for the TUF finale was a top-heavy card headlined by a flyweight title bout between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez.

After that fight was pushed back to the UFC on FOX 9 card, Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard were left to hold the whole affair up alone. Their headliner is a strong fight, but both fighters are coming off losses, thus, it is hard to argue that the fight has title implications.

The UFC has not seen fit to offset this potential problem by loading up the card with even midtier, recognizable talent.

On the contrary, the majority of the fighters on the undercard (such as Jared Rosholt, Walter Harris, Ryan Benoit, Josh Sampo, Tom Niinimaki and Drew Dober as it stands at the time of publication) are making their promotional debut. That does not even include the non-finalist contestants from this season of TUF who will be making their debut.

To be fair, the UFC has not historically packed TUF finale cards top to bottom with recognizable talent. But one would think that with the flagging TUF ratings, the UFC would work harder than ever to counter the perception that an event under the TUF banner is not worth tuning in for.

To the casual MMA fan that flips over to Fox Sports 1 because there is nothing else on TV Saturday night, the card will hopefully prove exciting. But to the more discerning fan, this undercard card lacks relevant fighters that would convince them to give up their Saturday night plans and tune in.

Even this lapse on the UFC’s part could potentially be forgiven if the latest season of TUF had produced an exciting batch of future contenders.

But it hasn’t.

Dana White has praised the fact that women’s fights on TUF this season have garnered more attention than the men. But that isn’t saying much considering how unremarkable the male fighters were this season.

Two male fighters (Anthony Gutierrez and Cody Bollinger) even missed weight late in the season, a breach of professionalism unprecedented in the show’s history.

Despite their relative success over the men, the females in this series have not proved terribly exciting either.

Fan-favorite Roxanne Modafferi looked outmatched in her fight with Jessica Rakoczy.

Highly-touted veteran Shayna Baszler was out of the tournament early after getting dominated by relative unknown, Julianna Pena.

Jessamyn Duke lost a barnburner to Raquel Pennington that deserved praise. But at this point, there is no indication that the durable Pennington has even made it to the final with Pena.

While the winner of the TUF 18 crown will have definitely earned her spot in the UFC’s ranks, it’s hard to say whether she will have garnered much attention in doing so. All indications are that the undercard won’t do much to boost viewership for their first moment in the Octagon either.

The UFC maintains that TUF is a relevant competition in the face of critical doubt and sad ratings. Yet it has inexplicably allowed this finale card to become a receptacle for unknown debut fighters.

If the UFC really hopes to keep its marquee reality show afloat, it had better start acting like it.

Have a different take on this issue? Tell us in the comments below!

Follow John Oakes on Twitter

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Why the Women’s Strawweight Division Is Next for the UFC

Not long ago, UFC president Dana White was adamant that women would never fight in his organization. But he revealed on the most recent “The Fighter & the Kid” podcast that he is so pleased by the popularity of the first cadre of women that he plans to add a second weight division. He raised eyebrows, however, by stating he wants 115 lbs next.

So why would the UFC skip over flyweight in favor of strawweight? Here’s why:

It doesn’t debilitate the bantamweight division

Imagine how the potential loss of former flyweights like Jessica Eye would impact the UFC’s flagship female weight class. The UFC should be concerned that opening up flyweight would sap the rising strength of the bantamweight division, which has yet to establish a generally agreed-upon pecking order of recognizable fighters.

Strawweight may be more talent packed

Names like Jessica Aguilar, Joanne Calderwood and Carla Esparza may not be familiar to you yet, but that will likely change after the 115 pound division is introduced. One might assume that because the women’s bantamweight division was the first in the UFC, it must have the best talent. Remember, however, that the UFC built bantamweight primarily around the celebrity of Ronda Rousey, not the talent of the class as a whole.

Due to the higher number of women able to compete at 115 lbs (which is comparable to the men’s lightweight class), expect women’s strawweight to become one of the most hotly contested UFC divisions in the years to come.

Separating the UFC’s two women’s divisions by 20 lbs allows for a larger talent pool to find a new megastar

When the UFC adds the strawweight class, the prominent flyweights currently unsigned by the UFC will have the incentive to make the drop to 115 pounds. Likewise, the most talented atomweights will seize the opportunity to go up in weight if it means a chance to compete in the Octagon.

This will be a good for the UFC, which ought to be concerned about what to do when Ronda Rousey leaves fighting for a full-time job making movies and/or babies. Marc Raimondi, writing for FoxSports.com, makes a good point that “blonde bombshell” Felice Herrig may be one of the women to take up Rousey’s mantle.

Opening up strawweight in the UFC is a counterintuitive but shrewd move. What should puzzle fans and media is how the UFC plans to promote these strawweights when the dance card is full to bursting as is. In order to expand the women’s divisions while also meeting existing fighter demand for bouts, the UFC will need to either decimate its ranks or massively expand its offerings.

Will we see cards grow to 15 or 18 fights, with prelims starting at the crack of dawn? Will we see a UFC event once per week?

While those are future possibilities, the UFC has seemed most willing to thin the herd first. Veteran, boring and low-ranked fighters better take heed.

Strawweight women—all 115 pounds of them—are coming for their jobs.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com