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Rory MacDonald Cautious About Bulking Up for Middleweight Bout Against Gegard Mousasi


Bellator MMA welterweight champion Rory MacDonald will move up a division to take on the middleweight king Gegard Mousasi in the Bellator 206 headliner on Sept. 29 in San Jose, California.

“The Red King,” who is a long-time teammate of former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champion Georges St. Pierre, said he witnessed firsthand the body transformation that “GSP” undertook in the lead up to his fight with former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping following a four year lay-off.

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MacDonald said that while his teammate defeated Bisping to claim the title, he didn’t agree with his approach in bulking up for the fight for the heavier weight class. The rapid change in St Pierre’s body had a detrimental effect on his health and he developed ulcerative colitis as a result.

MacDonald recently talked to MMA Fighting about St Pierre’s weight cut and what he’s doing to prepare for Mousasi.

“I disagreed with his approach to it from the very beginning,” MacDonald said. “I think he learned a lesson from it as well, so I think I have a good approach to it.”

MacDonald, who is a big welterweight, has said he has made several adjustments to his body to adapt to the 185-pound weight limit, but it isn’t as excessive as St Pierre’s as he wants to still be mobile.

“Not much,” MacDonald said. “I’ve been already doing something just by chance. I’ve been trying to get a little bigger and stronger. But nothing really. I’m trying to stay comfortable at my normal weight. Not really. I’m not trying to gorge myself and get too big. I want to be fast, agile and strong.”

MacDonald said he’s excited to fight Mousasi in a so called “super fight,” which he wasn’t able to do under the UFC banner due to the elite number of fighters vying for those opportunities. He’s now one of the top dogs in the promotion and these bouts could propel his career even further.

“When you take a pound-for-pound style fight in other weight classes or with guys who have proven themselves against a lot of guys, it opens eyes and gets people talking,” MacDonald said. “I’m excited. I’m not too worried about it, at the end of the day. I know he’s a big challenge.”

The opportunities presenting themselves to MacDonald are coming thick and fast as he’s already booked to be part of the Bellator’s new welterweight tournament, something he’s not experienced before. Two of the fighters in that tournament -- Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov -- kick off the tournament on the same night MacDonald takes on Mousasi.

“Things are just coming one after another right now,” MacDonald said. “God has really blessed me with the things that I have aspired to do in my career. I’m very grateful for these things. … It’s gonna be a great year. I’m very happy.”
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