MacDonald Doesn't Want Off the Ride
Jason MacDonald
(Pictures) truly loves what he does
for a living, and Saturday in Belfast, Ireland, his job will be to
defeat Rory Singer
(Pictures) inside the octagon.
This will be the lanky middleweight's fourth UFC appearance after racking up impressive submission wins over Ed Herman (Pictures) and Chris Leben (Pictures), followed by a gritty loss to former UFC champion Rich Franklin (Pictures).
"I'm excited to get back in there and to redeem myself after not such a great performance against Rich," MacDonald told Sherdog.com from his home in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.
While claiming that the performance against "Ace" wasn't his best, MacDonald did take some good from it, realizing afterwards that there's no shame in losing the way he did against a hungry former champion on a comeback. "The Athlete" also knows that his performances so far have gained him fan acclaim and the respect of his peers.
"It's been a real rollercoaster ride for me since October of last year," MacDonald said. "I was always a fairly popular fighter here in Canada, but until I made that big jump into the UFC and had some success … I gained a little fanfare."
Looking forward now to Saturday night, MacDonald will face Singer, the third veteran of The Ultimate Fighter television show the Canadian has faced. A win just might make the tongue-in-cheek proclamation he made after beating Leben of being the "TUF Killer" a little more valid.
MacDonald is going into this fight with the same poise he had prior to his UFC debut against Herman -- an uncompromising confidence in himself that brooks no dissent. So when he explains why he'll be the winner of this fight, he doesn't do so by downplaying Singer's abilities, instead he talks about his strengths.
"As far as Rory goes, I think all the fighters in the UFC these days are good fighters," he said. "You'd be silly to overlook anyone. But I think I'm a little bit better all around fighter than Rory. I think I've faced a lot tougher competition throughout my career, and I think I have a little more experience going into this fight. I think I'm just going to go in there and use that experience and overwhelm Rory and try to take him out quick."
Singer, of course, has a different viewpoint, stating in interviews leading up to the fight that he has superior striking, which will edge the balance of power in his favor.
MacDonald countered by explaining that if people are looking to the Leben and Franklin fights as indicators of his striking abilities they'd be making a mistake.
"As far as my striking goes, people haven't really seen what I can do," he said. "I was going into fights against two southpaws who were known for their knockout abilities -- it would have been silly of me to stand and trade with them, so I didn't.
"I won't be on that highlight reel with Nate Quarry and David Loiseau (Pictures)."
For this training camp, MacDonald forwent the trip to Greg Jackson's gym in Albuquerque, where he trained for Franklin, choosing instead to stick to his tried and true combination: three days per week training jiu-jitsu with Josh Russell at Gracie Barra in Calgary, and three days per week working with Pro Camp in Edmonton for his striking.
"I've had, knock on wood, no injuries, and I'm going into this fight feeling 100 percent," he said.
The fact that MacDonald is in such good shape is a testament to the dedication he has put in during his eight years as a pro fighter. That he is healthy is a nice bonus considering the brutal pace he's subjected himself to. This will be the Canadian's ninth fight in 15 months, and he's fine with that.
"It's a double edged sword, fighting lots and fighting not too much," he said. "Fighting lots you get to stay sharp and comfortable in the ring and your weight never gets too high or too far out of shape. But then again fighting lots has some disadvantages. You know you never really have a chance to heal those nagging injuries, and you definitely lose your drive mentally when one training camp turns into another training camp and turns into another training camp.
"So depending on the individual it's about finding a balance. Me, I always stay in good shape, and I find that if I sit around for anymore than a couple of weeks after a fight that I'm getting hungry and antsy to get back into a training camp. For me, fighting lots, as long as I'm not injured, it works fantastic and I definitely welcome it in this coming year."
Another benefit of MacDonald's UFC success can be seen in his bank account, which was bolstered after winning "Submission of the Night" bonuses for both his Herman and Leben performances. This has afforded him the opportunity to train full time, as well as allow him time to spend with his family and in his community.
"It's fantastic," said the 32-year-old middleweight.
"You know you fight your whole career to get recognized and when you finally make it to the UFC and start to get some recognition, for me it's something to be really proud of," MacDonald continued. "Just today one of my sponsors held for a bunch of local kids so they had an opportunity to meet me. I love doing that stuff. It's fantastic. You get an opportunity to make a name for yourself in the cage, then you do some great things in the community with that."
After this victory, and MacDonald talks about it as such, he sees himself as sitting pretty in 185-pound division's mix.
"I'm going to use Rory to go out there and show everybody that I belong in the top half of the middleweight division," he said, "and just wait to see what the UFC has for me next.
"I'm certainly not going anywhere, and I want to be considered one of the contenders over this coming year."
This will be the lanky middleweight's fourth UFC appearance after racking up impressive submission wins over Ed Herman (Pictures) and Chris Leben (Pictures), followed by a gritty loss to former UFC champion Rich Franklin (Pictures).
"I'm excited to get back in there and to redeem myself after not such a great performance against Rich," MacDonald told Sherdog.com from his home in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.
While claiming that the performance against "Ace" wasn't his best, MacDonald did take some good from it, realizing afterwards that there's no shame in losing the way he did against a hungry former champion on a comeback. "The Athlete" also knows that his performances so far have gained him fan acclaim and the respect of his peers.
"It's been a real rollercoaster ride for me since October of last year," MacDonald said. "I was always a fairly popular fighter here in Canada, but until I made that big jump into the UFC and had some success … I gained a little fanfare."
Looking forward now to Saturday night, MacDonald will face Singer, the third veteran of The Ultimate Fighter television show the Canadian has faced. A win just might make the tongue-in-cheek proclamation he made after beating Leben of being the "TUF Killer" a little more valid.
MacDonald is going into this fight with the same poise he had prior to his UFC debut against Herman -- an uncompromising confidence in himself that brooks no dissent. So when he explains why he'll be the winner of this fight, he doesn't do so by downplaying Singer's abilities, instead he talks about his strengths.
"As far as Rory goes, I think all the fighters in the UFC these days are good fighters," he said. "You'd be silly to overlook anyone. But I think I'm a little bit better all around fighter than Rory. I think I've faced a lot tougher competition throughout my career, and I think I have a little more experience going into this fight. I think I'm just going to go in there and use that experience and overwhelm Rory and try to take him out quick."
Singer, of course, has a different viewpoint, stating in interviews leading up to the fight that he has superior striking, which will edge the balance of power in his favor.
MacDonald countered by explaining that if people are looking to the Leben and Franklin fights as indicators of his striking abilities they'd be making a mistake.
"As far as my striking goes, people haven't really seen what I can do," he said. "I was going into fights against two southpaws who were known for their knockout abilities -- it would have been silly of me to stand and trade with them, so I didn't.
"I won't be on that highlight reel with Nate Quarry and David Loiseau (Pictures)."
For this training camp, MacDonald forwent the trip to Greg Jackson's gym in Albuquerque, where he trained for Franklin, choosing instead to stick to his tried and true combination: three days per week training jiu-jitsu with Josh Russell at Gracie Barra in Calgary, and three days per week working with Pro Camp in Edmonton for his striking.
"I've had, knock on wood, no injuries, and I'm going into this fight feeling 100 percent," he said.
The fact that MacDonald is in such good shape is a testament to the dedication he has put in during his eight years as a pro fighter. That he is healthy is a nice bonus considering the brutal pace he's subjected himself to. This will be the Canadian's ninth fight in 15 months, and he's fine with that.
"It's a double edged sword, fighting lots and fighting not too much," he said. "Fighting lots you get to stay sharp and comfortable in the ring and your weight never gets too high or too far out of shape. But then again fighting lots has some disadvantages. You know you never really have a chance to heal those nagging injuries, and you definitely lose your drive mentally when one training camp turns into another training camp and turns into another training camp.
"So depending on the individual it's about finding a balance. Me, I always stay in good shape, and I find that if I sit around for anymore than a couple of weeks after a fight that I'm getting hungry and antsy to get back into a training camp. For me, fighting lots, as long as I'm not injured, it works fantastic and I definitely welcome it in this coming year."
Another benefit of MacDonald's UFC success can be seen in his bank account, which was bolstered after winning "Submission of the Night" bonuses for both his Herman and Leben performances. This has afforded him the opportunity to train full time, as well as allow him time to spend with his family and in his community.
"It's fantastic," said the 32-year-old middleweight.
"You know you fight your whole career to get recognized and when you finally make it to the UFC and start to get some recognition, for me it's something to be really proud of," MacDonald continued. "Just today one of my sponsors held for a bunch of local kids so they had an opportunity to meet me. I love doing that stuff. It's fantastic. You get an opportunity to make a name for yourself in the cage, then you do some great things in the community with that."
After this victory, and MacDonald talks about it as such, he sees himself as sitting pretty in 185-pound division's mix.
"I'm going to use Rory to go out there and show everybody that I belong in the top half of the middleweight division," he said, "and just wait to see what the UFC has for me next.
"I'm certainly not going anywhere, and I want to be considered one of the contenders over this coming year."
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