On Jan. 11, 2010, the UFC will hold “Fight Night 20” at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. Fighting on the card is a young man by the name of Rory MacDonald, who will be making his UFC debut. He is the current King of the Cage Canada lightweight champion, and he will be taking on Mike “Joker” Guymon, who is the King of the Cage U.S. welterweight champion. It will also be Guymon’s UFC debut.
Rory is only 20-years-old, and has been fighting professionally for over four years. At 9-0, Rory is undefeated, and has finished every opponent he has faced. I don’t even know what most 20-year-olds are doing these days, but I know there aren’t many about to make their UFC debut.
ProMMA.info (www.promma.info) had the pleasure of speaking to the talented young fighter this week to find out his story, where he came from, and why he likes to abuse grown men. Before you read this, there are three things you should know about Rory. – He’s Canadian. He trains with GSP. And he’s part of Team Toshido. Now, meet Rory MacDonald…
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Thank you for speaking to us at PRO MMA (www.promma.info) Rory. As I was doing some research on you, I was quite amazed at what I was reading about you. You’re only 20 years old, and you’ve been fighting professionally for over four years now. How in the world does someone turn professional at 16 years of age? Is that even legal? I mean – that’s child abuse man, either way you look at it. If you win, you’re a child abusing the man, and if they win, that’s child abuse too!
RORY MACDONALD: (laughs) Yeah I was 16, and it was legal in Prince George B.C., I fought there like three times becuase it was one of the only places I could fight pro legally.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Please start from the beginning. How did you get interested in MMA, and how did all this happen for you, to where in one week you will be stepping inside the UFC Octagon? Take us through your MMA career and how this all came to happen.
RORY MACDONALD: I have been watching UFC since I was six and boxing also, so I had always liked combat sports my whole life, so I got the chance to train at an MMA gym in Kelowna, so I did when I was 14, I started developing my skills and working really hard never missing a day literally for like two years, and then my coach Dave and a few teammates talked to me one day that I should fight someone my age cause I was starting to get pretty decent. so I fought against a guy who was 18 or 19 at the time and I won. And I loved the process of the training camp and the fight itself so I stuck with it and here I am today.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: That is amazing. What do your parents think of your career choice – are they supportive? Did they want you to go to college or anything like that?
RORY MACDONALD: My parents help me so much and they are always there for me no matter what I choose to do, they love that I have found a passion this early and they really support me.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: It looks like you got a four-fight deal and you will be fighting at welterweight, is that correct? What is your walk around weight?
RORY MACDONALD: Yes that is correct, I am about 190 to 185 for this fight, I can get up to 200 or so but I like cutting small amounts of weight.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: What do you know about Mike “Joker” Guymon? Have you seen any of his fights? If so, how do you think you match up with him?
RORY MACDONALD: I know he has a well-rounded game, he tends to like to be on top of guys, which is smart. Yes I have seen plenty of his fights. I think I’ll be better than him at most aspects of MMA.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Where do you train Rory, who are your coaches, and some of the people who helped you get ready for this fight?
RORY MACDONALD: I train in Kelowna at Toshido MMA, my coach is David Lea, there are so many people that have helped me for this fight but Mike Adams, Tim Jenson, Gary Wright, Clay Davidson, Nick Ring, and Georges St. Pierre, are a few that have spent a lot of time with me for this fight camp.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Looking at your record, one of the things that sticks out is you have finished every single opponent. Is that something you make a conscious effort to do when you go into a fight, or it just works out that way?
RORY MACDONALD: I don’t think I’ll be happy if I ever go to a decision, it just doesn’t look like a victory in my eyes, I always want to leave knowing Im’ the winner or loser, no excuses.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Is there anyone in particular you would like to fight in the welterweight division? Like someone you think would just be an awesome fight that would be exciting for the fans?
RORY MACDONALD: I don’t know really, I haven’t thought about that to tell you the truth, I just wanna fight good guys and Il’l always try to be at my best to entertain people who watch me.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: On that note, what do you think is most important and why – to win or to make it entertaining? – For instance, would you like to have a fight of the night but lose, or win a three round snooze fest?
RORY MACDONALD: Personally, I would like to lose having the fight of the night with another good guy, because that way I know I tried my best, and I hate boring fights. I train too hard and too long to lay and pray on some one for three rounds.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Well, I know you made a few new fans with that statement. Rory, thank you for taking the time to speak with us at PRO MMA (www.promma.info). We are very excited that you are now in the UFC, and we look forward to following your career. Is there any sponsors you want to thank or any shout outs?
RORY MACDONALD: Thank you for the interview. I would like to thank my Team Toshido, my family, Georges St. Pierre, Nick Ring, and my coach David Lea for taking the extra time out of their lives to help me prepare for this fight.
By: Jack Bratcher