Rory MacDonald’s set to fight whoever wins the upcoming welterweight title fight between Douglas Lima and Lorenz Larkin, which is gonna take place on June 24th at the great Madison Square Garden.
During a recent interview on The MMA Hour, Rory voiced some beliefs on how the the UFC made a mistake in releasing him…
In his words, the UFC let it “slip through its fingers.”
“Absolutely, I opened a lot of eyes I think, and I’m sure the management over at the UFC feels the same way,” he said. “But we’re in the shoes that we are now, and I’m going to continue my journey the way I fought on Friday, and we’ll see where we are the next contract negotiation. But I’m very happy with Bellator, and I hope they are with me too. So, I foresee a good, long-term relationship with each other.”
“Maybe [the UFC] should be a little more cautious on how easy they let things slip through their fingers,” he said. “Because, like I’ve tried to say in the past, fighters can’t always be on 24/7 every single time they step into the ring. So you have to allow for these performances that aren’t up to par, that you would normally see. I think they definitely messed up when they let me go. That’s their fault and Bellator’s gain, you know?”
“I thought it was fantastic,” he said about his recent Bellator experience. “I was very happy with it. Everything went very smooth. Probably the best weigh-in procedure I’ve ever been through. It was very comfortable and smooth the way they ran it. Didn’t give me any headaches as far as running around and suffering for a long time. I was very happy with the weigh-in procedure.
“As far as media, it was awesome. They really respected what I need out of fight week, but at the same time promoting the fight. We worked together and we got the job done, and it was done right. I was very happy with the way Bellator treated me and everything leading up.”
“I’m not going to wrap my hands anymore,” he said. “I realized I don’t really like doing it.”
“It feels better. Especially with the Bellator gloves, they’re a lot better than the UFC gloves for making a natural fit. It’s a lot more comfortable.”
“I never train with wraps,” he said. “I’ve always found that they kind of cut off blood flow when you’re grappling as well, because you’re flexing your forearms and grips and things. It’s just something I decided wasn’t for me anymore.”
