Canadian welterweight Rory MacDonald to face Paul Daley in Bellator debut<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\u201cThis will be hopefully the first of many sponsorships with Dash and me,\u201d MacDonald said in a recent media conference call.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just for me but it\u2019s going to a big opportunity for many other fighters and even Bellator itself \u2026 there\u2019s tons of fighters interested in it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Pairing up with Dash is one of the reasons MacDonald left the UFC when his contract expired. The UFC, the sport\u2019s largest organization, is far more restrictive when it comes to fighter sponsorships. Fighters have to wear Reebok gear in the cage and share sponsorship dollars according to their ranking.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a huge benefit to get sponsors,\u201d MacDonald said of the move to Bellator.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to kind and show a bit of personality also, with not having to wear a uniform. (You get to) work with other companies,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd with cryptocurrency, there\u2019s so many different possibilities as a fighter now that you can get into these different markets and get yourself out there, other than just being in a cage and wearing a uniform and being like everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacDonald (19-4) won his Bellator debut in May 2017 when he submitted England\u2019s Paul (Semtex) Daly in the second round.<\/p>\n
Prior to that he had gone 9-4 in the UFC, losing via fifth-round TKO to then-welterweight champion (Ruthless) Robbie Lawler in a bloody battle at UFC 189 in May 2015. He followed that with a unanimous loss to Stephen Thompson in June 2016 before leaving for Bellator.<\/p>\n
Lima defeated Rick Hawn at Bellator 117 in April 2014 to win the vacant Bellator welterweight title, only to lose it in his first title defence against Russian Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 140 in July 2015. The American-based Brazilian knocked out Koreshkov at Bellator 164 in November 2016 to regain the title.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old Lima has since defended his crown, earning a decision over Lorenz Larkin last June.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis biggest strength is his power. He can hit hard from pretty much anywhere,\u201d MacDonald said. \u201cBut I fought a lot of power hitters before and been very successful against those guys so I\u2019m not too stressed about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyron (The Chosen One) Woodley is the reigning UFC welterweight champion. MacDonald is the last fighter to beat Woodley, via unanimous decision at UFC 174 in June 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cI already feel like I\u2019m the No. 1 in the world,\u201d said MacDonald. \u201cIt\u2019s just getting it down now. We\u2019ll find out Saturday what Douglas is made of. But in my head I\u2019m already No. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI plan on going in there being aggressive and taking him out early,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s card also features the first instalment of Bellator\u2019s heavyweight Grand Prix with Quinton (Rampage) Jackson (37-12) taking on Chael Sonnen (30-15-1) in a matchup of former UFC stars.<\/p>\n
Jackson-Sonnen will be the main event with MacDonald-Lima second on the card, which will be shown on the new Paramount Network, formerly Spike TV.<\/p>\n
The other participants in the Grand Prix are Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, Muhammed (King Mo) Lawal, Fedor Emelianenko, Matt Mitrione and Bellator light-heavyweight champion Ryan Bader.<\/p>\n
The tournament bracket has Emelianenko versus Mir, Mitrione versus Nelson and Bader versus Lawal on future cards.<\/p>\n
Sonnen says the storyline for his fight against Jackson, a hard-hitting former UFC light-heavyweight champion, is simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got one way to win, which is to be on top of him and annoy him for 15 minutes,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s got one way to win which is to put me to sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve taken a lot of people down. He\u2019s put a lot of people to sleep. This one isn\u2019t rocket science.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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