‘Ares’ on Stardom’s Road

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Three fights into his UFC career, Rory MacDonald has emerged as one of the best young talents in mixed martial arts.

He has also experienced both ends of the competitive spectrum, losing and winning in dramatic fashion in high-profile bouts. If there is an enduring lesson to be learned from those bookended chapters -- a technical knockout loss with seconds left to go in a thrilling match against Carlos Condit and a decision win over Nate Diaz -- it is that the kid from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, knows he always has more work to put in.

Just 22 years old, MacDonald has relocated to Montreal, where he sharpens his game in daily sessions with, among others, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. While he seems young, MacDonald’s journey is developing exactly how he envisioned at age 14, when he started training in mixed martial arts. He turned professional two years later.

Facing Mike Pyle at UFC 133 “Evans vs. Ortiz 2” on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, MacDonald hopes to build on his April 30 win over Diaz with another signature performance. The decision over Diaz was cemented with MacDonald’s strong closing effort, during which he surged late and slammed Diaz to the ground with crowd-pleasing takedowns. Pyle offers a hard-nosed wrestling style that provides yet another test.

“I expect him to take me to the ground. I really don’t think he’s got a chance standing,” MacDonald tells Sherdog.com. “He is dangerous and I respect him in all areas, but I feel like, if I was him, the smartest thing is to get it to the ground.”

Pyle, winner of three straight UFC bouts, is an experienced veteran who can shut down opponents by controlling them on the ground. In MacDonald’s win over the tricky and durable Diaz, he dictated the range and the pace of the bout before finishing strong and sealing the decision. While Diaz has lost decisions before, few have beaten him in such clear-cut fashion.

Firas Zahabi -- who trains MacDonald and St. Pierre, among others, at the Tristar Gym -- was pleased with what he saw against Diaz.

“I felt we needed to polish his standup. He showed maturity,” says Zahabi. “He did what we asked him to do, and he was going out there to perform instead of getting himself into a fight. He showed he can outthink his opponent.

“Rory’s a guy with a lot of natural power,” he adds, “and we’ve just been trying to focus that in the right direction. He was always able to muscle people around early in his career, but he’s at a level now where he’s going to have to be more technical.”

MacDonald has lived, breathed and obsessed about MMA since age 14, when he started training at a local gym. He thought about the sport constantly, and kids in school did not believe him when he told them he wanted to be a professional fighter. Tempering that natural fighter’s instinct can often be a challenge for trainers, as there is a delicate balance between tweaking a guy’s style and changing too much. If MacDonald’s measured performance against Diaz was any indication, the formula is working.

Training with St. Pierre is another great boost to living full-time in Montreal. Like GSP, MacDonald uses the Tristar Gym as his base while getting in various workouts at nearby facilities.

“He’s very disciplined,” MacDonald says of St. Pierre. “It’s his variety and commitment to training so hard. He’s a very smart fighter and very strategic.”

With fluid standup and natural athleticism, MacDonald gave welterweight contender Condit all he could handle in a three-round war at UFC 115 in June 2010. On the brink of a shocking upset win, MacDonald tired in the final moments of the third round and was stopped by a barrage of Condit strikes. Only seven seconds were left on the clock.

“I didn’t really have a game plan. I just wanted to go in there and fight,” MacDonald recalls. “I have more variety in my techniques now, and I just made a few technical errors at the end. But that’s OK. It was an experience, and I learned from it. I felt like I did good in the fight. I just didn’t execute perfectly.”

After relocating to Montreal from his native Kelowna, MacDonald, who won the King of the Cage lightweight crown at 19, has settled in nicely. When not training, he plays video games, shops and works on making his new apartment feel like home. It has also proven a little easier to focus because, although he is still an emerging face in MMA, Montreal is a huge city compared to Kelowna and he can move a little easier there without being recognized. Not that he minds.

“I get a little bit more attention [now],” MacDonald says. “A lot more people come up to me, especially if I’m back home.”

Following Jon Jones’ ascent to the UFC light heavyweight title, the prospect of fighting then-Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts teammate Rashad Evans unleashed plenty of opinions on whether training partners and friends should fight against one another. MacDonald is still a few wins away from having to answer that question, but as long as St. Pierre remains champion, it will be an opportunity worth weighing.

“I would never consider that,” says Zahabi. “I would never allow it.”

MacDonald feels the same way -- an easy enough answer, for the time being. While Pyle looms, it is hard not to think of MacDonald eventually fighting for the title. He could be a few years away from his peak, performance-wise, and as it stands, he has already given fans some breathtaking glances of his ability. In a division starkly divided into and old and new guard of contenders, he fits into a thriving mix that is sorting out itself in high-stakes matchups galore.

Condit, MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger are part of the fresh wave of new talent; established veterans include former title challengers Jon Fitch and Jake Shields, who battles Ellenberger Sept. 17 at UFC Fight Night 25. After destroying the previously unbeaten Dong Hyun Kim on July 2, Condit finds himself slated to face B.J. Penn at UFC 137, which features St. Pierre’s defense against former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz. There are other meaningful bouts on the horizon, as well, like Diego Sanchez-Matt Hughes on Sept. 24 and Charlie Brenneman-Anthony Johnson on Oct. 1. MacDonald will not lack for compelling opponents win or lose against Pyle.

MacDonald offered his thoughts on Condit-Penn and St. Pierre-Diaz, two matches that will go far in shaping the upcoming 170-pound title picture. Condit-Penn likely will provide a challenger, while St. Pierre-Diaz could have all sorts of ramifications. A Diaz upset completely remakes the landscape; another GSP victory could prompt more demand for the champion to move up to 185 pounds, depending on how the bout with Diaz plays out. For his part, GSP has expressed limited interest in moving to middleweight, but he has been so dominant at welterweight in recent defenses that another one-sided win does not elicit much interest in seeing him further steamroll challengers.

“I think that Georges and Diaz will go a lot like how the fight with me and [Diaz’s] brother went,” MacDonald says. “I think Georges has too much variety. He’s too smart to get sucked into a fight like that. He’s got too many techniques. He’s too dangerous.

“[Condit-Penn] is a good fight,” he adds. “It’s gonna be a really tough fight for Carlos, but it’s definitely something he can win. The thing about Carlos is he’s a natural fighter. He doesn’t stop. He has incredible heart, and if B.J. can’t finish him, he’s gonna have a tough time with Carlos’ pressure and will to win. It’s a tough fight, and I wish the best for Carlos.”

MacDonald seems genuinely excited at how his refined approach translated into the win over Diaz at UFC 129, and he believes more thinking and execution are vital to his continued progression.

“I have more options now, more footwork, and get to circle around more,” he says. “With everything, I have more attacks, defensive options, all kinds of stuff. I’m thinking a lot more in my fights and using the skills I know I have, rather than just going in and fighting.”

Jason Probst can be reached at [email protected] or twitter.com/jasonprobst.