Rory Macdonald signs with Bellator MMA

[Avs_19]

Good for Rory if he's getting paid over in Bellator now but it's still unfortunate he's no longer in the UFC. It's possible some of those wars have taken something out of him but I still think he could have been champion one day. There's a few good fights for him over there (Koreshkov, Page, Bendo, Daley) but it's pretty limited.

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[Peter Griffin]

Looks like Rory MacDonald is headed to Bellator.
http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/8/2...lose-to-finalizing-contract-with-bellator-mma

I'm not really surprised by this. Although Rory has had some great fights and is one of the top 170'ers around, he's never managed to be a big draw outside of Canada really and I bet Bellator ponied up big time to land him.

 

[Rocko604]

Looks like Rory MacDonald is headed to Bellator.
http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/8/2...lose-to-finalizing-contract-with-bellator-mma

I'm not really surprised by this. Although Rory has had some great fights and is one of the top 170'ers around, he's never managed to be a big draw outside of Canada really and I bet Bellator ponied up big time to land him.

Rumored Bellator offer was $350k per fight vs $70/$70 from the UFC. Would like to see him thrown in vs the likes of Page or Lima before getting a shot at Koreshkov.

 

[Avs_19]

Rumored Bellator offer was $350k per fight vs $70/$70 from the UFC. Would like to see him thrown in vs the likes of Page or Lima before getting a shot at Koreshkov.

I haven't seen that rumour myself but that would be great for Rory if it's true. He deserves to get paid for all that punishment he has taken. On top of whatever his salary is, he also won't be restricted by the Reebok sponsorship anymore so he'll be able to make even more.

This probably doesn't hurt the UFC too much but he was a good guy to put on the Canadian cards. He never lived up to the next GSP type of potential but he was a decent enough draw in Canada.

 

[Diddy]

Idk if this is thread worthy but I found it pretty surprising.
I thought he was gonna be the welterweight champion after I saw him fight condit (even though he lost that fight).
http://m.fightland.vice.com/blog/rory-macdonald-signs-with-bellator?utm_source=fightlandtwitterus


Also (poor quality but best one I found) this had me hyped lol. When I saw this I couldn't believe it actually happened.

 

[jw2]

A bit of a surprise. Especially since Robbie lost. He might eventually get another shot.

 

[chaosrevolver]

He's still very good. He had a war with Lawler where he was beating him until getting finished in the fifth...and while he didn't look himself against Wonderboy...that's not exactly an easy fight..especially for someone who hadn't been in the Octagon in a while.

Disappointing to see him going to Bellator (for me personally) but we'll see if it can spark him.

Wouldn't surprise me one bit if he figures it out there and becomes a better fighter before eventually returning. Still only 27 years old.

 

[Rocko604]

I haven't seen that rumour myself but that would be great for Rory if it's true. He deserves to get paid for all that punishment he has taken. On top of whatever his salary is, he also won't be restricted by the Reebok sponsorship anymore so he'll be able to make even more.

This probably doesn't hurt the UFC too much but he was a good guy to put on the Canadian cards. He never lived up to the next GSP type of potential but he was a decent enough draw in Canada.

Don't know how true that rumour is. Either way the offer was large enough that the UFC passed on it.

As for the GSP comment, I felt MacDonald should have left Tristar after his first loss to Lawler. He responds to that loss by beating Mai and Woodley and gets Tarec Saffiedine as a reward? Horrible management. Would love to see him training at AKA.

 

[tmurfin]

Good for him and good for Bellator. Gives them a legit top Canadian fighter to draw a bigger audience.

 

[Rocko604]

He's gotta get his nose fixed though. He could go to Bellator and fight Koscheck of all people and could come out with an L if it gets hit hard enough.

And as I mentioned in the main MMA thread, I hope he leaves Tristar.

 

[MD thaivuN]

Don't know how true that rumour is. Either way the offer was large enough that the UFC passed on it.

As for the GSP comment, I felt MacDonald should have left Tristar after his first loss to Lawler. He responds to that loss by beating Mai and Woodley and gets Tarec Saffiedine as a reward? Horrible management. Would love to see him training at AKA.

the last place I want to see somebody, who has had a lot of mileage and punishment in his career, go is AKA

 

[BGDDYKWL]

I think this makes a lot of sense for him. Will probably make a lot more money with Bellator. I never thought he was quite as good as the hype, and I'm not sure he'll ever be the same after that Lawler fight. I didn't see him winning the title, and his personality is pretty vanilla, so he would've toiled in that 3-7 range at WW in the UFC making peanuts.

 

[Rocko604]

the last place I want to see somebody, who has had a lot of mileage and punishment in his career, go is AKA

Good point, especially with his nose.

Still, I think it would be better for him to train with the likes of Cain, Cormier and Khabib than a bunch of scrubs while having to bow down to GSP every day while he contemplates if he's going to return to the UFC.

 

[MD thaivuN]

Good point, especially with his nose.

Still, I think it would be better for him to train with the likes of Cain, Cormier and Khabib than a bunch of scrubs while having to bow down to GSP every day while he contemplates if he's going to return to the UFC.

Honestly, if you want to build a highly confident, crazy and aggressive elite fighter, I think Kings MMA is the right place to go. Rafael Cordeiro is probably the best coach in MMA

 

[kurt]

Rumored Bellator offer was $350k per fight vs $70/$70 from the UFC. Would like to see him thrown in vs the likes of Page or Lima before getting a shot at Koreshkov.

UFC only offered $70/$70? No wonder he's gone. That's totally subpar for a perennial co-main PPV/main-event TV fighter. Good for Bellator, and good for overall fighter pay for him to go to Bellator.

 

[m9]

That sucks. Wanted him to stay in the UFC.

 

[kurt]

Awesome for him, for Bellator, for fighters everywhere, and for the overall entertainment value of MMA. I love this.

 

[MAHJ71]

I don't blame him for taking more money..

 

[dss97]

Rumored Bellator offer was $350k per fight vs $70/$70 from the UFC. Would like to see him thrown in vs the likes of Page or Lima before getting a shot at Koreshkov.

That's ****ing shameful if true.

Good for Rory. He'll probably be champ of Bellator soon.

 

[Birko19]

This is a big steal by Bellator, Rory is not some washed up fighter in the UFC, he's easily a top-10 guy (I'd rank him at 6 or 7). I wonder if others will follow.

Also it's time to leave Tristar, that gym is easily the most overrated gym around and they're only famous because GSP carried their banner.

 

[m9]

The thing is, I would have loved Rory in Bellator a few years ago. Bellator has just become an absolute joke though. It's great that Rory gets paid, but as a fan of MMA and wanting to see the top fighters fight each other this is a tough one to be happy about.

 

[Peter Griffin]

I think this a good move for Rory as long as it's not too long of a contract. Give him a chance to make some good money and get some dominant wins under his belt after being in some absolute wars and coming off a couple losses. Hopefully in a few years we'll see him back in the UFC and still in his prime.

 

[Rocko604]

It's official, made an appearance at the card in Anaheim tonight.