The biggest winner from last weekend’s UFC double header was without a doubt Rory MacDonald. Sure, Rick Story upset Gunnar Nelson to vault himself back into welterweight relevancy and Raphael Assuncao furthered his case to be the number one contender at bantamweight, but neither of them scored a highlight reel finish that earned them a title shot. Rory MacDonald accomplished both of those things.

“Ares” has long been considered one of the best at welterweight, but he was still considered boring and someone fans couldn’t fully get behind. MacDonald’s third round TKO over Tarec Saffiedine was his first finish since he stopped Che Mills all the way back at UFC 145. MacDonald withstood the great leg kicks of the Belgian and eventually picked apart the striker and put him down with a picture perfect uppercut. After the bout MacDonald said he was ready for a title shot.

Dana White had been hot and cold on the Canadian in the past, partially due to his unwillingness to fight longtime champion and training partner, Georges St. Pierre, and also partially due to his style of really just technically winning fights instead of fully going for the finish. After Saturday night, White agreed with MacDonald. The UFC president has since said that Rory is officially the number one contender in the welterweight division and will face the winner of the December bout between Johnny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler. The bout will presumably take place in the first half of 2015 and White also said that it is likely that the fight will take place on MacDonald’s home turf of Canada.

Thanks to Fox Sports we can now look back at Rory’s great performance in slow motion.

About The Author

Trey Downey
Staff Writer

A Central Florida native, Trey Downey's interest in MMA came after a trip to Blockbuster and the rental of UFC 47 on VHS. He has been blogging about the sport since 2011 and hosted a podcast called The TD Experience focusing on football and MMA (touchdowns and takedowns). Trey studied radio and television at the University of Central Florida and will soon be attending the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. Trey enjoys watching sports, pro wrestling and is an avid runner.