Former Bellator champion Rory MacDonald says fighters outside the UFC are just as dangerous

Former Bellator champion Rory MacDonald says fighters outside the UFC are just as dangerous

Rory MacDonald

Former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald isn’t afraid to admit that fighters from other organizations are of the same caliber as the fighters in the UFC. Rory recently signed to the Professional Fighters League and made his debut at the PFL.

Rory MacDonald was on the brink of leaving the sport for good while he was still fighting in Bellator. But there seems to be a spark of remotivation for Rory that has got him to desire the PFL title. MacDonald returned to the octagon in April of 2021 after not fighting for a whole year due to the pandemic and submitted Curtis Millender in the first round via a rear-naked choke.

The 31-year-old Canadian is now training to make his next fight in the PFL in June. Rory recently spoke to MMA Fighting about his recent motivation to fight with the best again. “I feel like I’m re-motivated,” MacDonald told MMA Fighting. “I’ve set new goals for myself that I’m passionate to accomplish. The past few years kind of after I won the title in Bellator, I kind of let myself get comfortable. I lost focus on what I even wanted to achieve so I was fighting more for the lifestyle outside of fighting and not really hungry to accomplish anything inside the sport,” said Rory.

YouTube video

Rory MacDonald does not think all the best fighters in the world are in UFC

Rory MacDonald
Rory MacDonald

Though Rory MacDonald might have the utmost respect for fighters signed to the UFC, he refuses to believe that all the best mixed martial artists are in that promotion. He reckons the promotion and media marketing of UFC has a lot to do with that notion. “I’ve trained with so many guys that have never been in the UFC and they’ve been some of the toughest rounds, as well as the guys in the UFC,” MacDonald said. “Some guys in the UFC are just not even as good as some of these guys I’ve worked within the past. There’s definitely no merit there. It’s just something people assume and because of the promotion and the big show, it’s assumed that.”

“I’ve been around different organizations, as well as the UFC, and I know full well that even though the media and the promotion with the UFC is so big, so guys are presented to be the best in the world there even though guys that are outside the UFC and just haven’t made a name for themselves, they’re just as dangerous,” MacDonald said.

“Guys in the PFL, they’re hungry, they’re motivated to make a name for themselves. They’re up-and-coming and they’re ready to fight hard so you can’t look past that at all.”

YouTube video

Also read: “I thought about quitting,” Charles Oliveira admits that he was pessimistic in his early career