Rory MacDonald has accomplished in Bellator what he never could in the UFC: Win a world title.
But, despite his success, ‘The Red King’ hasn’t looked too impressive in his last few bouts and the former UFC welterweight title challenger has had doubts over his future.
UFC president Dana White, who has kept a close eye on MacDonald since he parted ways with the UFC in 2016, thinks the 28-year-old peaked in the Robbie Lawler fight and hasn’t been the same fighter since. MacDonald lost that fight via fifth-round TKO.
“Yea, I think that umm.. It is a different situation in that because guys say they want to retire or do whatever and then just walk away,” White said in a recent interview with MMA on SiriusXM, per BJPenn.com’s Christopher Taylor. And then there’s guys that I let go of, or girls that I let go of, because I think that it is time. You know, but there are other places they can go and make money. But yea I think that Rory (MacDonald) is not the same guy he was going into the Robbie Lawler fight (at UFC 189).”
MacDonald, who recently beat Neiman Gracie via unanimous decision at Bellator 222, will face former champ Douglas Lima in the finals of Bellator’s welterweight grand prix. No date or venue has been announced for the bout.