(Photo via Getty)
Rory MacDonald‘s next fight will be against the resurgent Cuban judoka and former Bellator middleweight champ, Hector Lombard at UFC 186 in Montreal this April. The initial report came from Vendetta Fighter, but was later confirmed by MMA Fighting.
Late last year, Fans and pundits alike thought MacDonald would face the winner of Robbie Lawler vs. Johny Hendricks II. A controversial decision in Lawler’s favor put the brakes on that since it forced the UFC to book a trilogy between the two welterweights.
MacDonald, left without a dancing partner, will face off with one of the top welterweights in the division in Lombard. We like to think UFC matchmaker Joe Silva booked this fight based on both fighters’ terrible nicknames. We’ve got Rory “The Waterboy” “Ares” “The Red King” MacDonald vs. Hector “Lightning” “Showweather” Lombard. Ugh. How about the loser AND winner take their nicknames out back and shoot them?
Both men are on three-fight winning streaks. MacDonald’s comes over the likes of Tarec Saffiedine, Demian Maia, and Tyron Woodley. Meanwhile, Lombard’s winning streak is comprised over wins over Josh Burkman, Jake Shields, and Nate Marquardt.
Both fighters have momentum and are undoubtedly top guys, but we’re writing this one off as a mismatch right from the start. The first round might be competitive, but MacDonald will pull away and box Lombard’s face off for the second and third round of the fight while Lombard plods, huffs, and puffs.
Then again, we’ve been on the wrong end of fight predictions more times than we can count. So maybe we’ll just stick to posting embarrassing high school photos and Renaissance fair LARPing.