Fighting in his home country of Canada, Rory MacDonald had the crowd on his side at UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin. Would he, also, however, have fate on his side as he worked to top his biggest test to date in Carlos Condit.
Would MacDonald maintain his undefeated record as the crowd favorite? Or, would the former WEC Champion make his mark in the first PPV bout at UFC 115?
The result follows:
The fight was hardly an all-time great, but the dramatic story was certainly there. For the first two rounds, MacDonald stunned Condit, using his superior head movement to create opportunities for right hands. Combined with solid takedowns and composed ground control, MacDonald easily won the first round and probably did the same in the admittedly closer second round.
Following an aggressive pep talk from coach Greg Jackson, Condit turned it on in round three, getting on top of MacDonald and simply destroying MacDonald’s face with elbows and strikes. MacDonald occasionally bettered his position, but he could never create a permanent stop to the onslaught. For Condit, that was important, as he likely needed either a stoppage or a 10-8 round to have a real chance of victory.
Though MacDonald was taking a beating, it interestingly appeared that he was going to survive the fight. Then, with less than ten seconds left, Condit found an opportunity to slip some clean shots onto MacDonald’s face. The referee, to the surprise and dismay of the crowd, stopped the fight with just seven seconds left, giving Condit the win.
There was no emphasis on the stoppage being incorrect; MacDonald, who said he was taking such a beating that he actually thought the round had ended, said that Condit was “kicking [his] ass” and that the stoppage was “just.”
Carlos Condit b. Rory MacDonald via TKO (strikes) at 4:53 of Round Three
