Macdonald, Saffiedine set to engage
Kelowna welterweight, Belgian in main event of talented fight card
HALIFAX — Canadian Rory ‘ Ares’ MacDonald and former Strikeforce champion Tarec ‘ Sponge’ Saffiedine both weighed in at 170 pounds Friday ahead of their welterweight main event today on a televised UFC card.
MacDonald, ranked No. 2 among 170-pound contenders, and Saffiedine, No. 9, did not shake hands or exchange words after making weight. Saffiedine, an experienced Belgian kickboxer who fights out of California, gave MacDonald a brief nod before leaving the stage at the Scotiabank Centre.
After beating Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley last time out, at UFC 174 in Vancouver in June, MacDonald ( 17- 2) planted his flag in the sand.
“One day, very soon the belt will be mine,” he said in the post-fight interview.
He can make it sooner than later with a win Saturday.
Welterweight champion Johny ‘Bigg Rigg’ Hendricks faces top contender ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler at UFC 181 in December in a rematch of their UFC 171 meeting to decide a successor to Montreal’s Georges St-Pierre.
It’s the first five-round main event for the 25- year- old MacDonald in 11 UFC fights. A native of Kelowna who fights out of Montreal, he is a 5-1 or 6-1 favourite.
Saffiedine (15-3), in his UFC debut last time out, won a decision over Hyun Gyu Lim in the main event of a televised card in Singapore in January. The 28-year-old Belgian used punishing leg kicks to chop away at the big South Korean, as he did in winning the Strikeforce title against Nate ‘The Great’ Marquardt in January 2012.
The card is one of two UFC shows Saturday. Welterweight Gunnar Nelsen takes on Rick ‘The Horror’ Story in the main event of a Stockholm card.
There were no fireworks at the Halifax weigh-in, although there was still some drama.
Local flyweight Chris ‘ The Greek Assassin’ Kelades had just five days to make weight as a late injury replacement against Ireland’s Patrick ‘The Hooligan’ Holohan.
The 5-foot-6 Kelades towelled down thoroughly, wiping off every bead of sweat before stripping down and getting on the scales behind a towel. He weighed in at the flyweight nontitle limit of 126 pounds, punching his fist in the air and drawing cheers from the crowd when the weight was announced.