Reaction to Rory MacDonald's Bellator Debut
On Saturday night I finally watched Rory MacDonald make his Bellator debut against Paul Daley. While I already knew the result, I was curious to see how the fight played out. After watching I was left with the thought that if this fight played out 100 times, Rory wins 100 times. It didn't seem like Daley had an answer for MacDonald's game plan. Rory shot for the take down almost immediately to start the first and second rounds, laid some ground and pound and transitioned smoothly to the RNC early in the second. You may have thought Rory implemented a different game plan if you only heard Paul Daley's post fight interview where Jimmy Smith said that Rory stood with Daley like he wanted. Not sure what fight he was watching...
It is easy to forget that Rory MacDonald is one of the best welterweights in the world coming off of two straight losses, but forget no more. The Red King is back. If you really think about it... if one or two things go differently Rory could be UFC welterweight champion with an unblemished record. The Condit fight where he lost with seven seconds to go... A split decision loss to Robbie Lawler and the title fight against Lawler that he was winning. Many also believe that we did not see the same Rory against Wonderboy because of the damage he took at UFC 189.
The past is in the past and the future may just be Rory MacDonald as the Bellator welterweight champion.
*Unrelated note* I really don't want to throw dirt on this guy but... FS1 aired some sort of special on Frank Mir last night that I caught halfway through. They replayed the first Mir-Lesnar fight and oh my lord... What was Mazzagatti doing??? Not only the infamous late stoppage after the tap on a kneebar that could have been potentially devastating. I completely forgot he took a point from Lesnar for strikes to the back of the head. No warning?? It was the very beginning of the fight, Lesnar had never fought in the UFC before that, and Mir was moving around. I really don't think Mazzagatti should have been allowed to referee at a high level again after that. I know this is old news that everyone knows but still...*