Rory MacDonald
The teenage prodigy who learned MMA as one sport
- Born
- July 22, 1989, Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada
- Nationality
Canada- Height
- 183 cm (6′0″)
- Reach
- 193 cm (6′4″)
- Stance
- Orthodox
- Style
- Jab-and-wrestling all-rounder
- Weight
- Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight
- Active
- 2005–2022
- Status
- Retired · age 37
The record
Professional MMA; matches Sherdog record
The story
ory MacDonald started training at 14 with David Lea's team in Kelowna and made his pro debut at 16 with a first-round rear-naked choke, part of a new generation that learned mixed martial arts as a sport in itself. He was 9-0 and a King of the Cage champion when the UFC signed him. After a late stoppage loss to Carlos Condit in 2010 he moved to Montreal's Tristar Gym, home of Georges St-Pierre, and beat Nate Diaz, B.J. Penn, Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley. His 2015 title fight with Robbie Lawler, lost in the fifth round, was widely named fight of the year and went into the UFC Hall of Fame. At Bellator he took the welterweight title from Douglas Lima in 2018 and defended it twice before Lima won it back. He retired in 2022.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- Bellator welterweight champion (2018–2019, 2 defences)
- King of the Cage lightweight champion (2008)
- UFC welterweight title challenger (2015)
- UFC Hall of Fame, Fight Wing (2023, vs Robbie Lawler)
- 2015 Fight of the Year vs Robbie Lawler (Sherdog, MMA Fighting and others)
Defining fights
- 2011WINvs Nate Diaz (UD, UFC 129; three German suplexes in round 3)
- 2012WINvs B.J. Penn (UD, UFC on Fox 5)
- 2015LOSSvs Robbie Lawler (TKO 5, UFC 189 welterweight title fight)
- 2018WINvs Douglas Lima (UD 5, won Bellator welterweight title)
- 2018LOSSvs Gegard Mousasi (TKO 2, Bellator middleweight title fight)
MacDonald used his reach to land a stiff jab over and over, which is how he neutralised the shorter Jake Ellenberger. Make the jab the first layer of your MMA game and keep a takedown threat behind it, so opponents cannot simply walk through it.
