MacDonald swapped the UFC for Bellator last year and is due to face the dynamic Paul “Semtex” Daley in May in his promotional debut.
Michael “Venom” Page is one of the brightest prospects in MMA. When news emerged of an all-English headliner bout at Bellator 179, most thought it made sense. The card is scheduled for May 19, 2017, at the SSE Arena in London, England, and would have pitted two of the promotions best talents against each other.
Things are never simple in the world of MMA matchmaking. Once a name like Rory MacDonald comes to the mix, the recipe can take on a whole new consistency. Former UFC fan favorite [MacDonald] will instead get the nod in his debut fight against “Semtex” at the card in London.
Appearing on Monday’s latest instalment of The MMA Hour, “The Red King” explains why Page must ‘pay his dues’, before knocking on the door of the”top guys”:
“I think he’s still got his dues to pay. He’s made a lot of noise with the young career he’s had in MMA and he’s doing really good; he’s got the flash, crazy knockouts and he’s got the charisma and he talks well, gets people excited. People know of him and he’s turned into a big name pretty fast. But, at the end of the day, he hasn’t fought that many top guys yet. I think he’ll break into that slowly here. I’m excited to see who they put him against in London, hopefully it’s against someone pretty good to see what he’s all about. Once he gets through one of those guys at least, then I think he can start taking the bigger fights in Bellator.”
Page drew attention to himself in the literal skull-fracturing victory over Evangelista Santos at Bellator 158 last year, and still may make it to the card in London. Page, who is 7-0 in Bellator, may still be added to the card at some point if matchmakers can find him an opponent. What better opportunity to call out Daley or MacDonald then from inside the octagon.
While all eyes will be looking towards MacDonald in his first fight for the company, he acknowledges that he must prove a point to get off on the right foot. McDonald is winless since 2014, following defeats to Robbie Lawler and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in his last performances under the UFC banner:
“I am going In there to prove a point, to show people what’s up, who I really am. I think they are going to see a big change and I think they are going to be happily surprised. I’m making a few tweaks, focusing on my strengths again. I have an obsession for learning martial arts, new things. Sometimes you get caught up with over-complicating things, and now I’m going to step back and focus on my strengths and not give a shit about what everybody’s strengths are and go in there with what I know.”
MMA fans know what MacDonald is capable of on his day, so this one should be a fascinating encounter between two former UFC fan-favorites.
