With their loud, merciless boos, those in attendance at UFC on FOX 8 served as proxies for the bulk of those watching Rory MacDonald vs. Jake Ellenberger. The general consensus is that their fight, hyped by many as the true main-event of Saturday’s telecast, was a bore.
Some, however, have defended it as a technical battle, noting that Rory MacDonald’s skilled footwork, jabs and use of range represented his excellence as a fighter.
UFC President Dana White is not one of those people.
“Rory and Jake, you seem to think that fight was incredibly technical and a very interesting fight,” said White in a post-UFC on FOX interview with Ariel Helwani. “On the other hand, I thought Jake Ellenberger did nothing…at all. Literally did nothing. Did not try to win. Did not try to impose his will. His punch stat was close to zero.”
But White did not lay the entirety of the blame with Ellenberger. He was just as unimpressed with winner Rory MacDonald’s lack of urgency and aggression.
“So Rory stood on the outside and did just enough to win. [He] didn’t go in and try to impose his will on Ellenberger, didn’t try to finish, didn’t try to do anything,” explained White.
And given the buzz surrounding MacDonald, his opportunity to parlay a great performance into a title match and the trash talk from Ellenberger, that lack of urgency made a particularly-negative impression with the UFC’s head honcho.
White contended, “I think you go out there and if you really want to prove that you’re one of the best in the world…that you want that shot at the title–[and are fighting against] a guy who said you’re not one of the top ten in the world–let me tell you what, you didn’t convince anyone else otherwise tonight.”