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A legend of the UFC, B.J. Penn came up short against the youthful vigor of Canada’s Rory MacDonald last Saturday at UFC on Fox 5 in Seattle. Clearly superior throughout the fight, MacDonald subjugated the Hawaiian to hard knocks standing, and at the end of the fight asked for a rematch with Carlos Condit.
The young MacDonald was cool and collected before and after the fight. He entered the octagon against Penn, who lacked endurance and, at times, initiative. The Canadian won by a strong margin and cemented his place at the top of the welterweight division. After the fight, MacDonald asked that his next opponent be Carlos Condit, who he said humiliated him when they last fought.
“I respect Carlos Condit a lot, but I feel he humiliated me in that fight. I want to prove to myself and to the world that I’m a better fighter than that. I want revenge for the embarrassment I felt that night,” said MacDonald, adding, “I felt bad after that defeat.”
In the 2010 fight with Condit, Rory was winning, but was knocked out in the seconds preceding the final bell.
At the post-event press conference, Rory was asked whether he would fight his training partner Georges St-Pierre if given the chance. MacDonald tried to steer clear of the question, but ended up responding “I don’t know… I haven’t made it there yet. But I don’t think I need to fight St-Pierre. In fact, I won’t fight St-Pierre.
“He’s done a lot for me, and I’m not going to backstab him. We’re friends,” he said.
The win over Penn yielded him a different challenge: from Josh Koscheck, a top ten welterweight who holds a knockout win over UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes on his record. Koscheck defiantly asked for the fight, and said he didn’t believe the promotion would let their young athlete get beaten by him.
“Should Rory fight me? I doubt the UFC wants to see him get his butt kicked,” said Koscheck, whose last fight was in May of this year, when he lost to Johny Hendricks at UFC on Fox 3.
Who do you think Rory should fight next? The stone-cold Carlos Condit or the big-talking Josh Koscheck? Comment below.
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