PhotoCred: MMA Junkie
First Fight View: A world title, a draw, and a tournament
Rory MacDonald was never able to lay claim to UFC gold during his time with the promotion that he made his name in. However, it didn’t take the Canadian long once he departed from the Octagon and went to Bellator. In only his second fight under their banner, he would defeat Douglas Lima to become a world champion.
Immediately after the bout, MacDonald would move up to middleweight to compete in Bellator’s first champion vs. champion superfight. Unfortunately for “The Red King”, his opponent in the middleweight champion, Gegard Mousasi, would be too much to overcome.
Upon his return to the division which he now ruled over, Bellator had created a welterweight Grand Prix in which MacDonald would have to defend his title within. The first man put in his way would be the most experienced competitor in the tournament, Jon Fitch.
Like Rory MacDonald, Fitch too was also a UFC standout. Eventually, his eight-year tenure would come to an end after a loss to Demian Maia. Therefore leading to Fitch heading to the WSOF and capturing a title there. Coincidentally, the WSOF has since evolved into the PFL which is now where MacDonald will be calling his fighting home after he dropped the Bellator title in the Grand Prix’s finals in October.
Now 42-years old and having had the result not gone the way he had hoped for, this was possibly Fitch’s last fight in his nearly 20-year long career.
This is First Fight View with Drake Riggs. The video series where we go back and watch some of MMA’s most controversial decisions … for the very first time! I will be watching the fights in their entirety and providing commentary throughout as I score the rounds as they happen. And although the majority of these bouts will likely be under the old version of the unified rules of MMA, scores under both sets of the new and old will be tallied to maximize perspective. The global ruleset is also thrown in just for a little bit of extra fun.
Check it out in the full video above.
