A few months back, former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory “Red King” MacDonald, a man who has loomed atop the promotion’s 170-pound division for years now, made it clear that he was interested in testing free agency after fighting out the last fight on his contract in hopes of finding the best deal possible. Well,
A few months back, former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory “Red King” MacDonald, a man who has loomed atop the promotion’s 170-pound division for years now, made it clear that he was interested in testing free agency after fighting out the last fight on his contract in hopes of finding the best deal possible.
Well, that last fight has come and gone, and it didn’t end particularly well for MacDonald, as the Canadian dropped a very one-sided decision to surging contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson last month in Ottawa.
Now, the 26-year-old MacDonald is free to test the free agency waters and according to a tweet from MMAJunkie’s Chamatkar Sandhu, the “Red King” has already received interest from Bellator President Scott Coker:
Bellator President Scott Coker told me they have begun a line of communication with Rory MacDonald in the hopes of signing the free agent.
We have seen multiple former UFC fighters jump ship and head to Bellator in recent memory including veterans Josh Koscheck and Josh Thomson as well as former lightweight champion Benson Henderson.
Prior to his loss to “Wonderboy” MacDonald had won three of his last four with the only loss in that stretch coming in a five round war for the ages against reigning UFC king Robbie Lawler in July 2015. Those three victories came opposite the likes of Demian Maia, current title challenger Tyron Woodley, and Tarec Saffiedine. MacDonald also owns wins over Nate Diaz, B.J Penn, and Jake Ellenberger.
Already an established star at the young age of 26, MacDonald undoubtedly has room to grow, and obviously has a long career ahead of him. Do you see Bellator luring in the “Red King”, or will MacDonald remain with the world’s largest mixed martial arts organization?
There’s a superb streak of UFC events drawing ever closer, as the UFC 200 fight week featuring the Ultimate Fighter 23 finals and the UFC Fight Night 90 card is just over a week away. Following that crazy three day run of mixed martial arts action, we’ve got UFC 201 to look forward to, and
There’s a superb streak of UFC events drawing ever closer, as the UFC 200 fight week featuring the Ultimate Fighter 23 finals and the UFC Fight Night 90 card is just over a week away. Following that crazy three day run of mixed martial arts action, we’ve got UFC 201 to look forward to, and arguably the most exciting welterweight champion of all time will return on that card. Robbie Lawler takes on Tyron Woodley in the evening’s main event, topping off a stacked event from Atlanta, Georgia.
‘Ruthless’ is on a five fight streak and has been involved in two consecutive fights that could easily be called the greatest 170-pound title contests ever. A thrilling fight of the year against Rory MacDonald at UFC 189 was followed by a five round was against Carlos Condit at UFC 195, both fights are widely regarded as the most entertaining in the division’s history. But at UFC 201 Lawler faces a very different kind of fighter.
Unlike MacDonald and Condit, ‘The Chosen One’ has explosive one punch power, but also not akin to those two, Woodley has never seen a fifth round. Although he’s come under some criticism for not being conservative enough with his energy in the past, ‘T-Wood’ has certainly shown he can get the job done early on in the fight. Speaking recently with FOX Sports, the next contender to the welterweight strap says he has many ways to win the fight:
“Even after I signed the bout agreement, it just didn’t seem real because you know how our sport is — crazy things happen,” he continued. But then when I got to training camp and I started watching film, I started breaking him down, it just got real, man.”
“I can take it to the ground and grapple, I can wrestle, I can obviously strike with creative strikes and get there really quickly, but in addition to that, I just feel I can brawl and bang as well so there’s multiple different ways I feel comfortable winning the fight.”
Although it’s become a trademark of sorts for Lawler to become embroiled in gruelling battles of attrition, Woodley says he is not averse to testing his mettle in that respect at UFC 201:
“I feel that Robbie has one way to be successful — get me to stand in front of him and go with a ‘who got the bigger balls contest?,’ “
“And even in that situation, I’ve got a pretty good chance of knocking him out.”
A first round TKO over Dong Hyun Kim in 2014 was followed by a narrow split decision against Kelvin Gastelum in early 2015. Woodley has been out for nearly 18 months now and has averaged one fight per year since his unanimous decision loss to ‘Red King’ at UFC 174. Perhaps a contest of testicular fortitude against a war torn veteran like Lawler is not the wisest idea?
No. 1-ranked UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson has done everything in his power to receive a UFC title shot in his next fight. Enjoying a seven-fight win streak, “Wonderboy” has burst onto the packed UFC 170-pound title scene by defeating two of its top contenders in 2016. He first starched former champion Johny Hendricks in a
No. 1-ranked UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson has done everything in his power to receive a UFC title shot in his next fight.
Enjoying a seven-fight win streak, “Wonderboy” has burst onto the packed UFC 170-pound title scene by defeating two of its top contenders in 2016. He first starched former champion Johny Hendricks in a massive first-round upset back in February, and he put a stamp on his title readiness by outlasting former title contender Rory MacDonald in a one-sided decision at June 18’s UFC Fight Night 89 from Ottawa.
With welterweight champion Robbie Lawler scheduled to face Tyron Woodley in the main event of July 30’s UFC 201, there’s simply nothing left for “Wonderboy” but to wait and hope he gets the next shot at gold.
Speaking during a recent interview with Submission Radio, it appears that actually may be a good thing, as Thompson apparently sustained some relatively serious injuries in the win over MacDonald:
“I ended up hurting my left foot and my right foot. My shins are a little bruised up too, but I thought I ended up breaking my left foot kicking his elbow – I think it was in the second round – just totally crushed my foot on his elbow. And so we got x-rays yesterday – actually, it started feeling a whole lot better. So I actually did class, did a little bit of moving around, a little bit of shadow-boxing.”
The foot injuries weren’t the worst of his problems, however, as Thompson described a thumb injury that may unfortunately require surgery from a torn ligament:
“The worst injury, I believe, is my right thumb. I ended up tearing a ligament in it and doctors were talking about maybe having to do some surgery on it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed though, hopefully that doesn’t happen. Yeah man, so far right now, the worst injury is my right thumb. And hopefully after that, if I do have to have surgery, it will be a quick recovery.”
If his thumb is indeed healed up soon, Thompson understandably believes that the UFC should have little choice but to give him the next title shot based on his recent body of work. If and when they do, Thompson is eying the UFC’s New York debut at UFC 205 in November as the place to finally fight for a UFC title. Thompson then guaranteed a war in his fight for the belt:
“I’m on a seven-fight winning-streak, which is the most in the division. So I beat the best guys in the division. I beat the number two guy, the number one guy, finished Jake Ellenberger in the first round, Johny Hendricks in the first round. I think they have to give it to me.
“I think everybody is waiting to see how everything is going for the Tyron and Robbie Lawler fight coming up. I’m really anxious to see that as well. So I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on that. And yeah man, I’m trying to get that title shot in November in New York in Madison Square Garden. I think that’s the place to do it.
“I’ve done what the fans and what the UFC expected of me. I went out there and finished some guys in the first round, went five rounds, unanimous decision against Rory MacDonald the number one contender. Give me that title shot, guys. I guarantee you it’ll be a war and an exciting fight.”
As for whom he prefers to fight for the title, “Wonderboy” hasn’t been shy about voicing his opinion that he’d rather fight Lawler than Woodley. That sentiment is based on Lawler’s hard-nosed, all-out style, which “Wonderboy” has a lot of respect for.
Watching the recent title defenses of “Ruthless,” Thompson praised the brutalizing champion for his heart and toughness, but also noted that the champ has a basic striking game that he believes he could ultimately pick apart if Lawler stood in front of him:
“I would love to fight Lawler. Just because he’s been the champion longer and faced a lot of tough guys. For me to beat Lawler, when nobody else has at the top of the game, would be awesome.
“I believe that Robbie Lawler, he’s the toughest as they come. I mean, he’s got basic striking but he’s got tons of heart. He’s very tough, as you’ve seen in the past. His fights with Carlos Condit, Rory MacDonald have all been really, really tough, and he just came out there [in] the fourth and fifth round and came back stronger. He’s just that kind of guy. But he is a guy that will stand there and try and bang it out with you, so I think it would be a good matchup for me. Just the fact that he is the type of guy to stand there. I’ll be able to use my stand-up, my movement, my angles to try and pick him apart.”
Heading into UFC Fight Night 89 in his home country of Canada, former UFC title contender Rory MacDonald took a hell of a gamble on himself.
MacDonald went into the fight against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson as the final fight of his existing UFC co…
Heading into UFC Fight Night 89 in his home country of Canada, former UFC title contender Rory MacDonald took a hell of a gamble on himself.
MacDonald went into the fight against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson as the final fight of his existing UFC contract, as he opted not to re-sign with the promotion, but instead wait until after the Thompson fight. The belief is that MacDonald was going to be the latest legitimate contender to test the free agency market in the modern MMA landscape.
Unfortunately for MacDonald, however, he would go on to lose to Wonderboy Thompson via unanimous decision after five hard fought rounds in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Despite the fact that he lost his last fight, Bellator MMA appears to be interested in the Canadian contender.
Following the Bellator 157 post-fight press conference on Friday night, Bellator MMA President Scott Coker spoke about the promotion’s interest in Rory MacDonald with MMAFighting.com.
“It really comes down to, we’re Bellator, and we’re going to go after all free agents,” Coker said. “When [MacDonald’s] contract is up, and I think he might have some contingencies in the negotiation period, and we’re not going to breach any contracts. But when they are ready to talk, we’re here and Rory’s somebody we’d definitely be interested in when he’s free.”
When asked if MacDonald losing his last fight matters, Coker simply shook his head and replied, “One fight doesn’t paint the whole picture.”
Maybe Rory’s gamble will end up paying off after all.
With every decision comes a consequence and for those fighters who took part in battle this past at UFC Fight Night 89, it’s their time to faces those consequences in the form of medical suspensions. Some of the more notable suspensions include Rory MacDonald, Stephen Thompson, and Patrick Cote being suspended for 60 days. UFC
With every decision comes a consequence and for those fighters who took part in battle this past at UFC Fight Night 89, it’s their time to faces those consequences in the form of medical suspensions.
Some of the more notable suspensions include Rory MacDonald, Stephen Thompson, and Patrick Cote being suspended for 60 days.
UFC Fight Night 89 took place on June 18 at the TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The prelims aired on Fight Pass and FOX Sports 1 while the the main card aired on FOX Sports 1.
The Ontario Office of the Athletics Commissioner released the complete list of medical suspensions for fighters who competed at the recent UFC Fight Night 89 event.
While the OAC did not disclose why any fighter was suspended, they did issue suspensions to Stephen Thompson and Rory MacDonald.
Both fighters received 60 days, as did Patrick Cote.
Below is the complete list:
Rory MacDonald suspended 60 days
Stephen Thompson suspended 60 days
Patrick Cote suspended 60 days
Donald Cerrone suspended 14 days
Sean O’Connell suspended 60 days
Steve Bosse suspended 14 days
Gouti Thibault suspended 14 days
Olivier Aubin-Mercier suspended 60 days
Joanne Calderwood suspended 14 days
Valerie Letourneau suspended 60 days
Leandro Silva suspended 30 days
Jason Saggo suspended 14 days
Ion Cutelaba suspended 45 days
Misha Cirkunov suspended 14 days
Krzysztof Jotko suspended 14 days
Tamdan McCrory suspended 60 days
Joe Soto suspended 30 days
Chris Beal suspended 14 days
Sam Alvey suspended 14 days
Elias Theodorou suspended 14 days
Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger suspended 30 days
Randa Markos suspended 14 days
Colby Covington suspended 30 days
Jonathan Meunier suspended 14 days
Geane Herrera suspended 45 days
Ali Bagautinov suspended 14 days
The Ontario Office of the Athletics Commissioner released the complete list of medical suspensions for fighters who competed at the recent UFC Fight Night 89 event.
While the OAC did not disclose why any fighter was suspended, they did issue suspensions to Stephen Thompson and Rory MacDonald.
Both fighters received 60 days, as did Patrick Cote.
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