You can now refer to top bantamweight Michael McDonald as a former UFC title contender. Key word, former. The fighter has been granted his release from the promotion, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported Thursday.
McDonald, who challenged Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight title at UFC on Fuel TV 7 in 2013, requested his release a month ago, per the ESPN report. The fighter had struggled to stay active in the octagon, missing out the 2014 and 2015 calendar years in their entirety. He returned to action in 2016 to pick up a win over Masnori Kanehara at UFC 195, but was subsequently knocked out by John Lineker in the main event of UFC Fight Night 91 last July.
In January of this year, McDonald was extremely vocal about the UFC not affording him enough to even cover his expenses. Telling ESPN (via Bloody Elbow) that he had “borrowed money before and racked up $15,000 in debt in order to train like a professional athlete” in addition to losing his home, it’s clear that the dream of being a UFC fighter simply wasn’t panning out for him, despite being consistently ranked in the top ten of the weight class.
Commenting on his release, McDonald told ESPN Thursday that
The UFC was dishonest in the way they tried to do business with me and it’s resulted in a complete waste of my time. I want to feel like my employer isn’t out trying to cut my head off. I’m looking to enter a mutually respectful business contract with another fight organization.
While no specific organization was mentioned, the likes of Bellator MMA, Rizin FF, ONE Championship, and any number of European and Russian promotions have shown interest in former UFC fighters of late. At just twenty-six years old, McDonald is only now hitting his prime, and should have a number of years left in his pro career, should he wish to continue fighting long term.
