Rory MacDonald is far from being done competing as a welterweight in MMA. Having lost his title at the end of his Bellator run and not re-signing with the promotion, he seems to have plans to dominate in the Professional Fighters League (PFL). News broke about his signing weeks before the PFL 2019 Championship event at Madison Square Garden and when the New Year’s Eve event came, MacDonald was present to watch the fights.
One fight, in particular, was in obvious interest to MacDonald, the welterweight title fight that had Ray Cooper III walk away as the 2019 champion. Before the fight happened, MacDonald spoke to the PFL broadcast team about how he sees his 2020 going.
“I’m excited to come in here, have the best years of my career here, and bring PFL to new heights,” MacDonald said of what is to come. When asked about what he thinks of the welterweight division, he responded, “I plan to be the boss of the division,” and said he has been paying particular attention to Cooper III. “I’ve been watching him for a while, he’s a really exciting guy,” MacDonald said of Cooper III. However, MacDonald thinks he has, “what it takes to really go in there and dominate.”
With Cooper III walking away as the 2019 champion, during the post-fight press conference he told media that not only did he plan on returning for the 2020 season, but he fully intends on facing MacDonald. “I’ll fight him first, I’ll fight him whenever,” Cooper III said when asked about MacDonald. He [Cooper III] also said he would not mind exacting some revenge on behalf of B.J. Penn since MacDonald beat the fellow Hawaiian back in 2012.
Do you think the PFL will book MacDonald and Cooper III early in the 2020 season?
