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Retirement May Loom for Jason MacDonald, but Not Until He Stops Having Fun

Filed under: UFC, NewsNEW ORLEANS – In a lot of ways, had Jason MacDonald reinjured the ankle that he hurt at UFC 113, it would have at least kept him from being conflicted down the road.

As it is, MacDonald’s ankle feels healthy, he said, and he fee…

Filed under: UFC, News

NEW ORLEANS – In a lot of ways, had Jason MacDonald reinjured the ankle that he hurt at UFC 113, it would have at least kept him from being conflicted down the road.

As it is, MacDonald’s ankle feels healthy, he said, and he feels good about where he’s at heading into his Saturday fight against Alan Belcher at UFC Fight Night 25.

MacDonald said a reaggravation of that injury might have forced him to retire from MMA. But it’s not the ankle that will ultimately wind up deciding when it’s time for him to quit – it’s the realistic mindset he prides himself on.

“I’m interested, I’m still motivated to go train every day, I still enjoy it – so I’m still going to do it,” MacDonald said Thursday at the New Orleans Athletic Club. “The moment I don’t want to put in the work, I’ll be a guy who steps away. I’m not going to wait until I’ve been knocked out four times in a row and just hang on for that one more pay day. I have things to fall back on. There are other things in my life besides fighting. When I stop having fun, I’m going to move on in life.”

It’s ironic that MacDonald was recently in the position to come back after a long injury layoff. An injury against John Salter at UFC 113 in Montreal last year kept him on the shelf until UFC 129 in April, when he ignited his home country Canadian fans in Toronto with a submission win over Ryan Jensen.

Now MacDonald (25-14, 6-6 UFC) faces Belcher (16-6, 7-4 UFC), who has been out since, coincidentally, UFC 113 with eye problems that required surgery. And MacDonald said he knows what Belcher has on his mind.

“I can relate to what he’s going through,” MacDonald said. “I know the things that were going through my head before Toronto: ‘Am I gonna get back good enough to do this? Am I gonna reaggravate the injury and call it wrap, call it a career?’ There are lots of unanswered questions there. I was able to answer those questions in Toronto, and obviously Alan’s going to have to answer those questions. I think I can understand some of the things going through his head.”

Belcher had plenty of momentum on his side before his layoff – four straight fight night bonuses and a 3-1 mark which had just a controversial split decision loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama as a blemish.

But MacDonald said even a win over Belcher doesn’t mean he can necessarily count on sticking around for a while to go on a title run.

“For me, I know I belong here,” MacDonald said. “I’m no one-fight wonder. If you look at my fights and my record, I’ve fought a who’s who of the middleweight division. It’s not a question of if I belong here, it’s how much longer can I do this for? How much longer do I want to do this for?”

MacDonald said Chris Lytle‘s retirement last month had him thinking about his own situation with four kids at home, and being closer to 40 than 30. He also said keeping it real comes in handy.

“I’m not a title contender,” MacDonald said. “People might say that’s a poor thing to say, but I’m realistic. Even if I beat Alan on Saturday, I’m a lot of fights away from a title shot. You start asking yourself, ‘How many more fights do I want to do this for?’ When it’s time to step away, it’s time to step away. I don’t know the answer to that question yet. I’m 37 years old, I’ve had a good run and now it’s time to start looking forward.

“But right now, right here, right this second, I’m focused on Saturday night.”

MacDonald and Belcher open the main card of UFC Fight Night 25 on Spike TV at 9 p.m. Eastern. The main event features a welterweight fight between Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger.

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Five Reasons to Watch ‘UFC Fight Night 25: Shields vs. Ellenberger’

(McGee vs. Yang, the middleweight showdown that UFC fans have been…wait a minute, remind me again who Yang is?)

Unless you’re one of those Bud Light ‘Battle on the Bayou’ contest winners, you’re probably not overly excited about Saturday’s “Shields vs. Ellenberger” UFC event on Spike. Boxing already has Saturday night locked up, with Floyd Mayweather‘s ring-return against 24-year-old WBC Welterweight champ Victor Ortiz, and it feels like UFC Fight Night 25 will be an overlooked prelude to next week’s Jones vs. Rampage card.

But let’s not admit defeat so soon. We’ll be liveblogging the Shields vs. Ellenberger main card on CagePotato.com starting at 9 p.m. ET, and it would be nice if a few of you showed up to keep us company. Could it be one of those “crap on paper, bonkers in reality” events? Who knows, but consider the following…

All Eyes on Jake: So far, Jake Shields‘s UFC career has consisted of an underwhelming (and razor-thin) split-decision victory over Martin Kampmann, and a rout at the hands of Georges St. Pierre. His dominant stretch of eight-straight stoppage victories in 2006-2009 are a distant memory in the minds of MMA fans, and he needs a dramatic win here, badly. Shields’s dance partner, Jake Ellenberger, has been spent years fighting for recognition, and with four straight Octagon wins over serious competition, he’s starting to get it. Stylistically, the fight might not be a barn-burner, but it could have career-altering implications for the headliners.

(McGee vs. Yang, the middleweight showdown that UFC fans have been…wait a minute, remind me again who Yang is?)

TUF Winners Return: Due to poorly-timed injuries, Court McGee and Jonathan Brookins — the winners of TUF 11 and TUF 12, respectively — haven’t competed since last year. Nevertheless, McGee is still a solid favorite over Dongi Yang, the South Korean fight-finisher who has split a pair of Octagon appearances, most recently TKO’ing Rob Kimmons in March. I’m much more concerned for Brookins, whose first post-TUF bout will be against Erik Koch, the Roufusport-trained killer who has won Knockout of the Night bonuses in his last two fights. My money’s on Koch here, especially considering the way Brookins was gobbling punches against Michael Johnson — and I’d also call this bout an early front-runner for Fight of the Night.

The Crowd-Pleaser: The UFC knew what they were doing in booking middleweights Alan Belcher and Jason MacDonald to kick off the main card. Both guys go for broke in every fight, and have eight combined performance bonuses to show for it. With back-to-back stoppage wins over Wilson Gouveia and Patrick Cote in his pocket, Belcher returns to the cage after the eye-ailment that nearly ended his career. And speaking of miraculous comebacks, MacDonald is coming off his first-round submission win against Ryan Jensen, which followed his gnarly leg-snap against John Salter.

Do or Die for Dunham: Once an undefeated blue-chip prospect in the lightweight division, Evan Dunham now has his back against the wall following two straight losses — one a bullshit decision against Sean Sherk, the other an ugly TKO against Melvin Guillard. His next opponent, Strikeforce/TUF 13 veteran Shamar Bailey, is a hefty underdog, but he’s got the wrestling skills and power to make it a contest. Can Dunham get his head back in the game and take care of business? Because if he doesn’t, he’ll very likely be out of a job.

Don’t Sleep On the Prelims: The entire “Shields vs. Ellenberger” preliminary card will be streamed on Facebook.com/UFC, and Dunham vs. Bailey isn’t the only match to keep an eye on. Following his Fight of the Night-worthy loss to Yves Edwards in January, Cody McKenzie — and his dreaded “McKenzietine” choke — will return against Vagner Rocha. Plus, Saturday night will kick off with the debut of Jorge Lopez, a 22-year-old welterweight who took a break from high-school at the age of 14 to train with Wanderlei Silva — which sounds a hell of a lot cooler than what I was doing at 14.

(BG)

UFC Fight Night 25: Predicting Fight, Knockout and Submission of the Night

The UFC goes to Louisiana this weekend, and they are bringing a solid night of fights featuring a record-holder for most bonus money won in a single year.The main event will feature former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields going up against…

The UFC goes to Louisiana this weekend, and they are bringing a solid night of fights featuring a record-holder for most bonus money won in a single year.

The main event will feature former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields going up against power-puncher Jake Ellenberger. This fight could very well determine the next title challenger in the division. Ellenberger is currently on a four-fight win streak while Shields’ 15-fight win streak was stopped with a loss to Georges St. Pierre in his last fight.

Other main card bouts include Court McGee vs. Dong Yi Yang, Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch and Alan Belcher vs. Jason MacDonald.

These are my predictions for fight, knockout and submission of the night.

Knockout of the Night: Alan Belcher

Middleweight fighter Alan Belcher will come of an extensive layoff to take on Jason MacDonald, and he is bringing an impressive stretch of bonuses to the cage on Saturday.

In his past four fights, Belcher has been awarded two fight of the night awards and two submission of the night bonuses. He is tied with Chris Lytle for the most award money won in a single year. There is no reason to think he can’t continue his streak in this fight.

Of Belcher’s 16 career victories, eight have come by knockout and six are by submission.

MacDonald has 14 losses on his record, including five by knockout, four by submission and five by decision.

Fight of the Night: Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch

Ultimate Fighter winner Jonathan Brookins hasn’t fought since winning his UFC debut in Dec. 2010.

Koch made his UFC debut earlier this year when he knocked out Raphael Assuncao to pick up a knockout of the night bonus.

Both of these fighters are tough enough to make it the distance, and both don’t like to take their fights longer than what is necessary. This makes for a very exciting fight between two fighters who like to finish but are very hard to finish.

Between them, they have 20 victories by submission or knockout. Brookins’ last defeat was against Jose Aldo, while Koch’s only career loss was to top-ranked featherweight Chad Mendes.

This is a fight that could ultimately determine the next best up-and-comer in the 145-pound division, and it should be a very competitive and close fight.

Submission of the Night: Court McGee

Ultimate Fighter winner Court McGee will make his third appearance in the UFC and be taking on Dong Yi Yang, a South Korean fighter with a 10-1 record.

Yang is a big and aggressive middleweight, and his strength was visible in his UFC victory versus Rob Kimmons. He is currently 1-1 in the UFC.

McGee recently defeated Ryan Jensen by submission in a fan-friendly fight that saw him come from behind to pick up the win and a fight of the night bonus at UFC 121.

Expect to see Yang come out fast in this fight and be looking for the knockout early. McGee is one of those guys that can weather the storm and stick to his gameplan to pull out a victory when the fight gets deep into the late rounds, so don’t expect to see him go out easy.

If this fight hits the third round, McGee should have more in the gas tank to take Yang down and get the submission victory in another fan-friendly fight.

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UFC Fight Night 25 Predictions

Filed under: UFCWill Jake Shields bounce back from his loss to Georges St Pierre in style, or will Jake Ellenberger win his fifth fight in a row? Can former Ultimate Fighter winners Court McGee and Jonathan Brookins continue their winning ways? Will Al…

Filed under: UFC

Will Jake Shields bounce back from his loss to Georges St Pierre in style, or will Jake Ellenberger win his fifth fight in a row? Can former Ultimate Fighter winners Court McGee and Jonathan Brookins continue their winning ways? Will Alan Belcher be ready to go in his first fight in more than a year? We’ll attempt to answer those questions as we predict the winners for Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night card.

What: UFC Fight Night 25: Shields vs. Ellenberger

Where: New Orleans Convention Center

When: Saturday, the Facebook prelims start at 5:30 p.m. ET and the Spike TV card starts at 9.

Predictions on the four televised fights below.

Jake Shields vs. Jake Ellenberger
Shields is a trooper for going through with this fight just three weeks after his father and manager, Jack Shields, died. One of the big questions heading into this fight is whether his father’s death has disrupted Shields’ preparation, and that’s a question we really have no way of answering. That makes this fight tough to predict.

Based purely on what we’ve seen from these two in the cage, Shields would have to be considered a solid favorite: Although he lost a unanimous decision to Georges St. Pierre, Shields has handily beaten everyone else he’s faced over the last few years. But Ellenberger is no slouch: He’s on a four-fight winning streak, and he’s 9-1 in his last 10, with the only loss coming by split decision to Carlos Condit.

Ellenberger is a better striker than Shields, and an upset wouldn’t shock me. But I expect Shields to use his superior grappling to grind out a decision and maintain his status as a Top 3 welterweight.
Pick: Shields

Court McGee vs. Dongi Yang
McGee won Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter and picked up a victory in his first fight after that, submitting Ryan Jensen in October. After that McGee suffered a knee injury, and he’s now been inactive for 11 months, but if he can shake off the ring rust he should match up well with Yang. I like McGee to submit Yang late in the fight.
Pick: McGee

Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch
Brookins won Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter and is now fighting for the first time since then, moving down to his more natural weight class of featherweight. Brookins is a talented young fighter, but I think he’s facing an even more talented (and younger) fighter in the 22-year-old Koch. Koch has a great instinct for finishing fights, and I think he’ll finish Brookins in what should be an exciting fight.
Pick: Koch

Alan Belcher vs. Jason MacDonald
It’s great to see that Belcher is finally back, more than a year after an eye injury threatened his MMA career. Belcher was just starting to make his mark in the UFC, with two impressive wins in a row, when the eye injury sidelined him. Now he’s back, and the UFC is easing him back into things with a very winnable fight against the 36-year-old MacDonald. Belcher should beat MacDonald up and win by TKO.
Pick: Belcher

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UFC Fight Night 25: Will Jason MacDonald Continue to Impress?

Can Canadian mixed martial arts star and pioneer Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald continue to impress vs. Alan Belcher this Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 25? In his own words, Jason MacDonald saved his job with a comeback victory this past April in To…

Can Canadian mixed martial arts star and pioneer Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald continue to impress vs. Alan Belcher this Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 25?

In his own words, Jason MacDonald saved his job with a comeback victory this past April in Toronto against Ryan Jensen, and this weekend he will step up to a bigger challenge in Alan “The Talent” Belcher.

MacDonald is a ground wizard and will look to welcome Belcher back to the UFC with a good ole fashioned lesson on the ground. Belcher is coming off of 14-months of recovery from surgery for a detached retina and will look to punish MacDonald in a stand up tilt.

Classic matchup of a grappler vs a striker and MacDonald will have to get this down quickly before Belcher gains any rhythm in his return. 14-months is a long layoff and I think MacDonald will look to come out in a submission blitz to get a win before his foe can shake any type of ring rust he may feel.

Submissions grow tougher as the fight goes on with slippery sweat becoming an issue and the further this one goes, I like Belcher’s chances for a decision.

In an odd coincidence, Belcher’s last fight over a year ago was also against a Canadian in veteran striker Patrick Cote, and this will be the fifth Canadian fighter he has faced in his last eight fights. I’m beginning to not like Mr. Belcher very much. Pick on another country will you.

MacDonald will continue to impress in this fight with Belcher, as I see him bringing us back to his earlier days in the UFC when he had great victories over Ed Herman, Chris Leben and Rory Singer. He was quick, precise and dominant in those fights before some tough losses and the major injury stalled his time in the UFC.

I hope to see that “Athlete” on Saturday night.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and (also a Correspondent for MMACanada.net)

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma

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UFC Fight Night 25: Should Jason MacDonald Retire If He Loses to Alan Belcher?

I believe this upcoming UFC Fight Night has the distinction of being the first ever UFC card to totally steal the name of an earlier UFC event. And I’m not counting episodes 1-100 of “Ultimate Knockouts”, or my suggestion for &ldqu…

Yes, the original UFC “Battle on the Bayou” will always hold a special place in my heart. As a young(er) fan watching the event on VHS, I will never forget the image of Frank Shamrock slamming Igor Zinoviev like he was a 50-pound sparring dummy. A 50-pound sparring dummy that had slept with his wife.

It was a different era in mixed martial arts. An era of underground fights and penny pinching promoters (say that three times fast), of fading popularity and no money and efforts to ban the sport. Certainly no one was making Oscar contending movies starring Nick freakin’ Nolte about our little sport back then.

It was a different age, a bygone era, a time so distant it has faded to lore.

It was March 13, 1998.

Less than a year later, Jason MacDonald made his professional MMA debut. Talk about being O.G.

Since then, MacDonald has been almost to every extreme this sport has. He’s fought from one end of Canada to the other, becoming a legend on Canada’s regional circuit. He fought in a lot of dingy armories and high school gyms for little more then promises and bragging rights.

To vaguely quote Mike Goldberg, “More than paying his dues in the sport of MMA, is Jason MacDonald!” At least I think he said that.

Inside the UFC, MacDonald has done it all, from the PPV marquee fights to the undercard curtain-jerkers. From being “in the mix” for a belt to being cut from the organization. He’s experienced the elation of a surprising victory and the heartbreak of a shocking defeat—and that’s just the few times I’ve seen him live.

He fought Rich Franklin, Chris Leben, Yushin Okami and Demian Maia, and gave all those men as much (or more) than they could handle.

This Saturday is, from a personal standpoint, bigger then all those fights for MacDonald. A win gives him the chance at another run in the sport’s big leagues. A loss almost certainly means the end of his UFC tenure. It could also very well signal the end of his MMA career as well.

MacDonald isn’t exactly standing on rock solid footing career-wise at the moment. As mentioned, “The Athlete” has already been bounced from the UFC following a loss to Nate Quarry. After putting together a few wins on the Canadian regional circuit, MacDonald was given a “for one night only” ( you lose, you’re gone) UFC return against John Salter to fill an undercard spot in Montreal last year.

One botched take-down attempt later, and MacDonald had a broken leg, another loss on his record, and some serious questions about his future.

Luckily, Dana White proved to be a man of his word. Kinda. After a year on the shelf, White honored his original deal with Jason and booked him another “for one night only” appearance, this time on the UFC 129 undercard in Toronto in April. This time, MacDonald took care of business, won his fight in the opening frame, and thus maneuvered his way into this card.

Still, the numbers are against J-Mac. He is 37-years-old with over a decade of full-time fighting under his belt. His fight with Alan Belcher this Saturday will be his 40^th career bout. MacDonald has fought only two times in the last two years, with lots of downtime to recover from a serious injury. He’s 1-3 in his last four UFC fights.

Those are damning statistics for any fighter to face. But MacDonald has some unique advantages, as well.

He’s won “Submission of the Night” three times, “KO of the Night” once and has a reputation for exciting, dramatic fights. He’s also a known commodity to Canadian MMA fans, someone they’ll care about and pay to watch. He’s a great “gatekeeper” that can test new guys on the way up. So from a promoter’s viewpoint, he’s still a fighter to have on the roster if he wins Saturday.

MacDonald also has an advantage in that Alan Belcher may be the only guy at middleweight with worse luck than him. A serious eye injury in training almost ended Belcher’s career; now he makes his return to the Octagon after a year and a half on the shelf. He may not be the same fighter he was when he left.

Which is good, cause at last viewing, Alan Belcher was a “talented” middleweight (see what I did there?) who was a handful for anyone. And he’s fighting in his backyard, so you know he’ll be bringing it come fight night.

So MacDonald stands, as he so frequently has, as the answer to a question. Is Alan Belcher still a top level middleweight? That’s the question the UFC wants answered in the booking of this fight.

But the question I’m more interested in is—Is Jason MacDonald still a UFC-level fighter?

Belcher has time and coming off such a bad injury fans and media will likely forgive a loss. But for MacDonald, it’s do or die. Win, and you get to write a couple more chapters into an already long and storied UFC career. Lose, and that book could very well be closed forever.

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