Rory McDonald | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC 170: Who Stands to Lose the Most

There’s more on the line in UFC 170 than just titles.
One of the most pervasive narratives in the UFC is “athleticism.” Fans and promotion both value Ronda Rousey, Rory MacDonald and Daniel Cormier for their pure athleticism; and…

There’s more on the line in UFC 170 than just titles.

One of the most pervasive narratives in the UFC is “athleticism.” Fans and promotion both value Ronda Rousey, Rory MacDonald and Daniel Cormier for their pure athleticism; and all three could damage the basis of those reputations if they lose at UFC 170.

Ronda is the “it” thing for 2014 without GSP and Anderson Silva—who are still on the edges of the action but not in it. Her fame rests on total control of the class and the license she gets to act out as a result. As the UFC refuses to let us forget, she has Olympic pedigree.

She’s the new shining star; a volatile, immensely talented brand of her own. The UFC invests so much time and energy inflating and praising her status that her first loss could be tougher than necessary. If she loses to fellow Olympian Sara McMann, she’ll be exposed as less of a champ and more of a supreme athlete controlling a thin division.

We all remember Rousey’s barb against Meisha Tate’s high school wrestling. That both confirmed Rousey’s own supremacy and undermined it. Ronda glorifies her own advanced success while admitting its relationship to her advanced training.

Rousey is the queen of a division that hasn’t established itself at the same rate as its male counterpart. While thousands of UFC fighting men came up through the professional ranks over the last 20 years, the women’s division is only now getting the attention it deserves; and the resulting training necessities.

If Rousey loses, she destroys the narrative the UFC has built around her. She loses her right to continue her persona with impunity and she loses her status as a lone elite among lesser athletes.

Similar to Rousey is Rory MacDonald. MacDonald has lots to prove after being hailed the next big thing in mixed martial arts—the inheritor to mentor Georges St-Pierre’s athleticism and ambassadorship.

After MacDonald’s uncharacteristically lackluster loss to Robbie Lawler, the hype died as Lawler got the shot for the vacant welterweight title against Johny Hendricks. If the Canadian loses now, he could deal a deathblow to the credibility he partially damaged losing to Lawler. He needs a win now to reestablish himself as the potential great we thought he was, which is no easy task against Demian Maia’s jiu-jitsu.

Daniel Cormier faces a challenge of not only credibility, but character. Patrick Cummins’ bean-spilling about Cormier’s in-gym tears created an ugly hatred between the two. Cormier’s inaugural light heavyweight match, originally set against now-injured Rashad Evans, took a nosedive.

Plenty of press built up Daniel Cormier as an especially athletic figure in a non-athletic weight class. As the only other heavyweight with the same kind of sportsmanship, he denied a chance to test his mettle. He protected champion Cain Velasquez, refusing to fight his friend and leaving doubts about his ability. If Cormier loses, we can begin to believe the murmurs of him being a fight dodger or, at the very least, a lesser fighter than we’d hoped he was going to be.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia Set for UFC 170

Talk of a fight between Demian Maia and Rory MacDonald has been swirling for some time, but on Friday night, it became official.
The matchup between two of the UFC’s top welterweights will go down at UFC 170, which will take place on Feb. 22 at The Man…

Talk of a fight between Demian Maia and Rory MacDonald has been swirling for some time, but on Friday night, it became official.

The matchup between two of the UFC’s top welterweights will go down at UFC 170, which will take place on Feb. 22 at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nev. The bout was announced on the promotion’s Canadian social media outlet on Friday, and it finally made the highly anticipated and speculated bout a reality.

The 24-year-old Canadian is coming off his first loss since 2010 when he was edged out by Robbie Lawler via split decision last month at UFC 167. The loss stunted what was a rapid rise to the divisional upper tier at 170 pounds for MacDonald and broke up a five-fight winning streak.

Immediately following the bout, he went public with his eagerness to get back into the cage and said he “needed the loss” to rediscover his motivation during an appearance on The MMA Hour.

In order for MacDonald to get back into the mix of the highly competitive welterweight title hunt, he needed to face a top-ranked opponent in his next bout, and that is exactly what Maia represents.

The former middleweight title challenger is in a similar position, as he also suffered a setback in his most recent outing. After picking up three consecutive victories in the welterweight ranks, the Brazilian submission ace was defeated by fellow grappling guru Jake Shields via split decision in their bout at UFC Fight Night 29 in October.

The loss broke up a solid surge of momentum that Maia was building toward a title shot, and much like his counterpart, the 36-year-old expressed an urgency to get back to action quickly.

Last month, Maia’s management told UFC Tonight he would like to face MacDonald, and it now appears he will get his wish. While the only other bout to be announced at UFC 170 is the main event between Rashad Evans and Daniel Cormier, it seems likely the welterweight tilt will receive a high billing on the fight card.

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rory MacDonald: ‘I Needed to Lose’

Losing to Robbie Lawler was exactly what Rory MacDonald needed.
The young welterweight star has been coasting on a sea of hype for well over two years now. As Georges St-Pierre’s protégé, MacDonald’s path seemed simpler than a…

Losing to Robbie Lawler was exactly what Rory MacDonald needed.

The young welterweight star has been coasting on a sea of hype for well over two years now. As Georges St-Pierre’s protégé, MacDonald’s path seemed simpler than any other fighter’s on the entire UFC roster.

He would continue to fight in St-Pierre’s shadow and win tough fights, and whenever St-Pierre lost or decided to retire, he would step right in and fill the massive void left by arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history.

But things rarely go according to plan in this world. Fate often has a cruel twist up its sleeve capable of derailing even the supplest individuals.

After suffering his first career loss to Carlos Condit, MacDonald rebounded with a five-fight win streak, with every victory coming relatively easy against notable opposition.

With early talks of St-Pierre possibly retiring, the stars appeared to finally be aligning for MacDonald to step from beyond the shadows and take his place at the forefront of the UFC welterweight division.

“Everything was coming very easy for me the last three years since losing to Carlos (Condit). The fights were going very smoothly, and I just felt like, ‘Wow, it’s becoming very easy.’ I kind of let my guard down a bit,” MacDonald said on The MMA Hour Monday.

It’s a common mistake for a young fighter to feel invincible until they are grounded by the realization that the margin of error is too small in MMA to ever become comfortable.

The truth was revealed to MacDonald in a stunning split-decision loss to Lawler at UFC 167. He had taken all of his previous hard work for granted. The hunger and fire that had once fueled him had been eradicated by superstardom.

On The MMA Hour, he admitted that fighting was no longer fun for him:

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. … The most exciting point for me was actually getting into the fight. 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.

…I needed to lose. I needed to get into a hard fight. I’m very motivated, more than ever now. I’m very hungry. I feel like I have that fire back.

At only 24 years old, the future remains bright for MacDonald, who is still one of the most talented fighters in the UFC.

It’s rare for any path to greatness in MMA to yield a linear road without any stops or roadblocks along the way.

MacDonald is now faced with the second major roadblock in his professional career, and like last time, he is prepared to face it head-on.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

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

Tim Kennedy: Firas Zahabi Made Rory MacDonald and GSP into Boring Fighters

UFC middleweight contender Tim Kennedy knows that Greg Jackson’s MMA, his home away from home, gets a bad rep for teaching fighters how to fight safe and outpoint their opponents in the cage.
In a recent interview with MMA Mania, the respected Un…

UFC middleweight contender Tim Kennedy knows that Greg Jackson’s MMA, his home away from home, gets a bad rep for teaching fighters how to fight safe and outpoint their opponents in the cage.

In a recent interview with MMA Mania, the respected United States Army veteran did everything he could to dispel this notion.

“… If you look at the past ten fights. The fighters that have won the ‘submission of the night’, the ‘knockout of the night’, and ‘fight of the night’ bonuses are almost exclusively Jackson guys,” Kennedy said. “In my last fight camp, it was me, Rustam (Khabilov), Adlan (Amagov), and (Donald) Cerrone, all in fight camp at the same time. All of us fighting three weeks apart and all of us had a ‘knockout of the night’ or ‘fight of the night.’ Then you look at Firas (Zahabi) and you look at Rory MacDonald … I remember when he fought Nate Diaz and it was extreme grappling, vicious strikes. That guy was scary. Now we’re two years removed from that fight and the transition is now a guy jabbing from the outside. Not even in volume. It’s just horrible. It’s so boring.”

Bleacher Report then reached out to Kennedy directly to elaborate on the matter at hand.

“I was referring to Rory MacDonald and GSP compared to the current crop of Jackson’s (MMA) fighters: Rustam (Khabilov), Adlan (Amagov), “Cowboys” Cerrone and myself. All of us won our respective fights with a finish,” Kennedy said over the phone.

“Jackson’s is producing exciting finishes: leaping left hooks, spinning heel kicks, triangle chokes…bringing home Fight Night bonuses. … GSP, when was his last finish? I don’t even know.

“If we’re going to call out coaches, let’s make sure we call out the right ones. The biggest, most dramatic change is guys from there (Tristar Gym).”

Kennedy is currently ranked the No. 10 middleweight in the world, according to the UFC’s official rankings, and captured Knockout of the Night honors for stopping Rafael Natal with strikes at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 earlier this month.

Lightweight Rustam Khabilov earned Fight of the Night honors for upsetting former Strikeforce title challenger Jorge Masvidal on the same card, dropping “Gamebred” with a spinning wheel kick in the third round.

Fellow Russian striker Adlan Amagov competed at UFC 166, stopping grappling ace T.J. Waldburger with brutal punches in the opening frame of their bout last month.

Most recently, former WEC champ Donald Cerrone put on a vintage performance against Evan Dunham at UFC 166 last Saturday, tapping out the scrappy wrestler with a triangle choke in the second frame.

Cerrone took home the Submission of the Night bonus for the stoppage.

For the record, the first time “Rush” trained at Zahabi’s Tristar gym was prior to his second win over BJ Penn at UFC 94 in January 2009, splitting teams between Jackson’s MMA and Tristar for that particular fight camp.

Additionally, this was the last time St-Pierre finished a fight, as Penn’s corner threw in the towel in between the fourth and fifth rounds, giving the champ a TKO via a corner’s stoppage.

St-Pierre then left Jackson’s MMA in favor of the Tristar Gym prior to his title bout with Jake Shields at UFC 129 in April 2011.

As for MacDonald, he trained at the Toshido Fighting Arts Academy but opted for the move to Tristar after losing to Carlos Condit at UFC 115 in June 2010.

He’s compiled a 5-1 record since then, with two victories coming by way of TKO.

Kennedy also told Bleacher Report that he currently doesn’t have a fight line up, though it is pretty obvious he is eyeing a showdown with perennial contender Michael Bisping next.

“I’m really diligent in rehabbing my quad injury, and while I rehab, I’m attacking the guy I want to fight the most,” Kennedy said, though also noting that the fight has not been formally offered yet by the UFC.

Does Kennedy make a valid point that really hasn’t been made publicly about Zahabi and the Tristar Gym with his comments here?

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rory MacDonald vs Robbie Lawler Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Dana White, the UFC president, was open about his plans for Rory MacDonald after his most recent performance. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, White mentioned that he wants to pit MacDonald against Robbie Lawler.
Both welterweights were involved at …

Both welterweights were involved at UFC on Fox 8, and each man walked away with solid wins. Lawler looked most impressive with a headkick KO over Bobby Voelker. MacDonald’s performance left something to be desired, but the No. 3-ranked welterweight defeated No. 4-ranked Jake Ellenberger regardless.

Lawler, the No. 9-ranked welterweight, maintained his ranking with the win.

If the plan for MacDonald vs. Lawler pans out we will be treated to another top-10 welterweight clash with significant title implications on the line. Should the fight come to fruition, this is how the 170-pound scrap breaks down.

Begin Slideshow