It appears as though Rory MacDonald has burned his bridges with the UFC for good after signing for its main competitor, Bellator MMA.
When you consider all the high-profile fighters who’ve recently made the switch from the UFC to Bellator, you could see Benson Henderson as the first major steal, you could call Chael Sonnen the biggest draw, but Rory MacDonald is probably the most talented.
Although MacDonald doesn’t possess Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor levels of drawing power, the Canadian fighter consistently performed for the promotion by putting on massively entertaining fights, including arguably the greatest of them all – his epic war against Robbie Lawler for the welterweight crown.
OPINION: Robbie Lawler v Rory MacDonald II is up there with the greatest fights in UFC history http://t.co/CR14iStEbj pic.twitter.com/HxgNuby6b2
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 13, 2015
It’s been almost a month since the Red King moved over to the number-two promotion in the world and he shed more light on his decision to leave the UFC during a recent appearance on Heated Conversations with Booker-T. He gave his two cents on how the fighters on the UFC’s roster are treated and it doesn’t exactly paint the promotion in the best light.
“They (the UFC) have a very interesting way of pushing their fighters. They don’t do it quite like boxing. They like to throw you in the fire fast and see if you come out on top or not. They’ll keep on propelling you up faster to try to make more money, if you don’t they’ll throw you in the dumpster really quick.”
“They’re not really in the protecting the fighter business, they’re in the promoting the UFC business.”
Jose Aldo explains why he could be leaving MMA forever #UFC205 https://t.co/YO0PGnfNwq
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 3, 2016
Bellator contracts work a little differently than that of the UFC. Rather than earning money based on PPV numbers, fighters are rewarded monetarily based on TV ratings their events draw. Another bonus is sponsorship revenue, as fighters don’t have to solely wear one manufacturer at events, such as the case with the much-maligned UFC Reebok deal.
MacDonald admitted that the lure of “dollars and cents” played a huge factor in his decision to leave the UFC while he was also critical of how fighters have all adopted the same method of generating hype. He believes that the increasing number of voices entering the cacophony has made it very dull.
“Having Bellator MMA as a serious competitor to the UFC gives us an opportunity to open our eyes to other business opportunities. Now I can start making royalties on things that I deserve to be making rather than the UFC making everything off of my character.”
“For the last few years it feels like I’ve been living in North Korea with the UFC. I don’t know if it was done intentionally, but systematically over the years the choices made have got us to the position where we are now. We all dress the same, we all talk the same – it’s the same script over and over again and same characters over and over again. That just gets pretty dry and not entertaining for me.”
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