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!
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