Rory MacDonald issues statement after Bellator 206 loss to Gegard Mousasi: ‘I froze in the cage’

On Saturday night, in the main event of Bellator 206, Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald moved up to the middleweight division to challenge divisional champ Gegard Mousasi.

If Rory MacDonald had succeeded on this gutsy mission, he would have become the first fighter in Bellator history to hold titles in two divisions concurrently. Unfortunately for the welterweight champion, this middleweight title fight did not go as planned. Instead, he was soundly beaten by Mousasi, succumbing to a thunderous bombardment of strikes in the bout’s second round.

After a brief period of silence, Rory MacDonald issued a statement on this tough Bellator 206 loss. Though he kept it brief, he divulged that he wasn’t feeling on-point mentally in the cage. That being said, he also assured he has no excuses, and praised Mousasi for his performance.

https://twitter.com/rory_macdonald/status/1046443301858041856

“Last night was a tough one for me, unfortunately I didn’t mentally show up ready to take on a competitive fight and froze in the cage,” Rory MacDonald said in his post-fight statement. “In this sport you pay a high price if you’re not dialed in and ready to go. I have zero excuses, Gegard was a fantastic champion last night.”

https://twitter.com/rory_macdonald/status/1046443317452394496

“I just wanted to give an update to those asking what happened in there last night,” MacDonald added in a follow-up Tweet. “Thank you all for your support. God Bless.”

This loss to Gegard Mousasi is Rory MacDonald’s first in the Bellator cage. In his first two bouts with the promotion, he scored a submission win over Paul Daley, and then won the welterweight title with a decision win after five tooth-and-nail rounds with Douglas Lima. 

From here, Rory MacDonald will return to the welterweight division, where he’ll battle former World Series of Fighting champion and UFC title challenger Jon Fitch in the first round of Bellator’s welterweight tournament. This bout will serve as a title defense for MacDonald.

Of course, this plan will depend on whether or not the Canadian is healthy enough to fight after his rather brutal loss to Mousasi. Stay tuned for updates on that.

What do you think the future holds for the Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/30/2018.