in one of the few UFC on Fox 8 fights that hasn’t been damaged by the injury bug, Welterweights Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger will meet in the night’s co-main event. MacDonald is coming off an incredibly dominant unanimous decision over former 170 lb. champion B.J. Penn at UFC On Fox 5. “Ares” beat “The Prodigy” from pillar to post for 15 minutes before getting his hand raised by referee Herb Dean.
Multiple times in their fight, Rory had Penn visibly wincing as he failed to defend himself against devastating body shots. MacDonald didn’t get the finish and he told MMA Junkie that Penn’s pre-fight trash talk may have had something to do with that:
The B.J. fight, I was having fun just beating on him. He was talking a little bit of trash, so I figured I might just hurt him a little bit more.
Considering Ellenberger’s twitter attacks aimed at his upcoming opponent, it looks like he may get the same treatment if he’s not able to get the upper hand on Rory Mac:
Sometimes you train so hard and for so long and you only get 15 minutes max of game day for a few times a year,” MacDonald said. “So sometimes it’s nice to spend a little time in there and get hit once or twice or hit him a little more. Sometimes it’s just a little more fun. Sometimes, you just want to hurt someone and devastate their lives fast. But I only react to how I’m feeling that night.
Ellenberger is coming off a first round KO win over former Middleweight contender Nate Marquardt at UFC 158. He sports a UFC record of 8-2 (29-6 overall) with his only losses coming to Martin Kampmann and former Interim champ Carlos Condit. The win over Penn put MacDonald on a 4-fight win streak with his only loss in 6 fights coming against Condit, as well.
The two top-10 Welterweights will meet on July 27 at the Keyarena in Seattle, WA. In the main event, UFC On Fox 8 will feature a Flyweight title fight between champion Demetrious Johnson and John Moraga.