5 Talking Points from UFC Fight Night 89

Canada’s Rory MacDonald faced Stephen Thompson in the main event

#1 Where does Rory go from here?

The future hangs by a thread for Rory MacDonald

Fighting out his contract against a dangerous opponent like Wonderboy was perhaps an ill-advised move for any fighter, but it credits immensely towards Rory MacDonald that he was willing to take the risk, and better still, avoid offering excuses after the fight.

Although to be honest, this was a version of MacDonald that seemed gun-shy; a pale shadow of the man that stood toe to toe with Robbie Lawler and locked unyielding eyes with him after a blood-soaked round of fighting.

Perhaps it could purely be attributed to Wonderboy’s ability to dictate the range throughout the fight so astutely.

Or maybe it had to do with the fact that a father soon-to-be had a lot more than just the cost of his next training camp riding on the outcome of the fight. As remote and quite frankly, cold-blooded, as Rory may seem, he is, after all, human.

The UFC may have an unhealthy stranglehold over fighter pay for as long as the formation of a union is averted, which could yet be a long way away given the individualistic nature of the sport.

And for fighters like Rory MacDonald that are courageous enough to bet on themselves in a game as fickle as MMA, more often than not and rather unfortunately, only the UFC holds the answer to the question, “what next?”

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