by King Hazard
Rory MacDonald’s Bellator debut last Friday was a spectacular one. Following a two-year losing streak the Canadian finally picked up his cleanest win against one Bellator’s top welterweight contenders.
Now that MacDonald’s next fight in Bellator will be for the title, the 27-year old from Tristar Gym in Montreal voiced his thoughts on his former promoter, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In an interview on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Monday, MacDonald said he believes that his performance in London was a statement as to what the UFC let “slip through its fingers.”
Absolutely, I opened a lot of eyes I think, and I’m sure the management over at the UFC feels the same way, but we’re in the shoes that we are now, and I’m going to continue my journey the way I fought on Friday, and we’ll see where we are the next contract negotiation. But I’m very happy with Bellator, and I hope they are with me too. So, I foresee a good, long-term relationship with each other.
While MacDonald appears to be extremely happy with his new Bellator contract, he still think the UFC “messed up” for letting him go following contract negations in 2016.
Maybe [the UFC] should be a little more cautious on how easy they let things slip through their fingers, because, like I’ve tried to say in the past, fighters can’t always be on 24/7 every single time they step into the ring. So you have to allow for these performances that aren’t up to par, that you would normally see. I think they definitely messed up when they let me go. That’s their fault and Bellator’s gain, you know?
In the main event of Bellator 179, MacDonald smashed through Paul Daley in a one-sided fight, eventually winning it via rear-naked choke in the second round. The “Canadian Psycho” will face the winner of Lorenz Larkin and Douglas Lima, who are scheduled for a welterweight title fight at Bellator NYC, also known as Bellator 180.
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