Uncertainty looms for Bellator welterweights
Going into Bellator 220, Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch had a simple mission to advance in the promotion’s welterweight grand prix.
But after Saturday night, everything has changed.
A majority draw in the tourney’s last quarterfinal left the crowd at SAP Center in San Jose, California, booing and both fighters questioning their futures in the sport.
MacDonald (20-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 BMMA) kept the welterweight title he brought to the contest because of tournament rules that require a champion to advance in the event of a draw. He just didn’t feel like much of a winner against Fitch (31-7-2, 1-0-1), a hometown favorite, who earned one score of 48-46 to offset two tallies of 47-47.
“It’s hard for me to pull the trigger now, I guess,” MacDonald said afterward. “I don’t have that killer inside. … I don’t know if I have that same drive to hurt people anymore.”
Those words have triggered retirement for many combat sports athletes. But MacDonald still put up his dukes for an awkward staredown with Neiman Gracie, whom he’s scheduled to face in the semifinals on June 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The winner of the tournament wins a $1 million prize.
Instead of taking a victory lap, Bellator President Scott Coker was forced to consider the possibility he’d have to slot an alternate in MacDonald’s place.
“He was in an all-out war tonight,” the exec said. “He had to dig deep to win that fight, and I think when you have a fight that you have to dig that deep, sometimes it takes something out of you. … But if he wants to fight, he’ll fight. If he doesn’t want to fight, that’s up to him. We’re not going to make anybody fight that doesn’t want to be in there.”
MacDonald somewhat walked back his comments later during a post-event news conference. Asked about his future, he said he couldn’t give a definitive answer. He said his plans “right now” are to fight Gracie. He’ll pray to find out what comes next.
“I was expressing what I felt in my heart,” he said of his post-fight comments. “I was just trying to be honest.”
For Fitch, 41, who left another mixed martial arts promotion offering $1 million paychecks to tournament winners, the heartache of falling short of the cash and gold brought retirement into stark focus.
Two years ago, he had a “bad brain scan” and vowed to call it quits more if he lost.
“I’m in a position now where I didn’t lose, so technically, I don’t know if I should keep that promise to myself or not,” he said. “But there’s a good chance this is my last fight.”
If MacDonald can’t continue, however, Fitch will get a lot more certain about his future.
“It’s going to be hard to turn down an opportunity to win a million dollars,” he said.