This weekend, in the main event of Bellator 179, which goes down in London, England, former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald will make his promotional debut against brick-fisted Brit Paul Daley.
In advance of this fight, MacDonald and Daley have had plenty to say about each other. In a recent interview with Metro Sport, Daley gave his take on the other members of Bellator’s stacked welterweight division – many of whom he could well fight in the coming months. See what the world class welterweight had to say about his Bellator welterweight peers in the video at the top of this post, and see a transcribed version of his comments below:
When asked about reigning Bellator welterweight champ Douglas Lima, MacDonald called him a “strong well-rounded guy,” and a “big, large guy.”
When asked about fellow UFC veteran Lorenz Larkin, who will next challenge Lima for the title, MacDonald simply called him an “explosive striker”
In the case of former champ Andrey Koreshkov, MacDonald offered up three keywords: “gritty, young, well-rounded.”
In the case of Brennan Ward he said “bomber wrestler,” and a “strong puncher-wrestler guy.”
When asked about Michael “Venom” Page, he said “I think he’s a unique kickboxer.”
When asked about Dillon Danis, a BJJ specialist who has never competed in MMA, but has generated a good deal of buzz through his association with Conor McGregor, MacDonald said nothing more than “shit talker.”
Finally, when MacDonald was prompted with the name of his Bellator 179 training partner Paul Daley, he said “knockout puncher, knockout fighter.”
This fight will be MacDonald’s first since a June 2016 battle with two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, which he lost by decision.
How do you think Rory MacDonald will do in Bellator’s exciting welterweight division?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/17/2017.
