Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White believes Rory MacDonald has been changed following his grueling war with Robbie Lawler back in 2015.
MacDonald is the current Bellator welterweight champion, but there was a time when he was vying for UFC gold. MacDonald took on Lawler in the co-main event of UFC 189. The bout made it to the fifth round where a battered MacDonald was stopped via TKO.
Dana White Talks Rory MacDonald Post-UFC 189
During an appearance on SiriusXM’s “MMA Tonight,” White weighed in on MacDonald post-UFC 189 (via BJPenn.com):
“Yea, I think that it is a different situation in that because guys say they want to retire or do whatever and then just walk away. And then there’s guys that I let go of, or girls that I let go of, because I think that it is time. You know, but there are other places they can go and make money. But yea I think that Rory (MacDonald) is not the same guy he was going into the Robbie Lawler fight (at UFC 189).”
MacDonald is coming off a successful title defense against Neiman Gracie at Bellator 222. He’ll put his gold on the line in a rematch against Douglas Lima. The bout will serve as the finals in the Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix.
