Rory MacDonald Removed From Official UFC Rankings *UPDATED*

UFC welterweight contender Rory MacDonald has long been labelled one of the brightest prospects in MMA. Having been a professional fighter since the fresh young age of 16, MacDonald is now a 22-fight veteran at the age of 27. The Canadian star joined the UFC with a pristine 9-0 record, pegged for title glory from day one. Having his friend and training partner Georges St-Pierre as champion did ‘Ares’ no favours.

The two Canadian welterweights refused to fight each other, and so began MacDonald’s journey as a top contender. Beating the likes of current champion Tyron Woodley, Jake Ellenberger, Demian Maia and BJ Penn–MacDonald quickly cemented himself as a top five stalwart.

Wars & Loss

Two losses to Robbie Lawler, the second a particularly brutal war at UFC 189, seemed to put the brakes on MacDonald’s surge. He returned hopeful after some time off to face Stephen Thompson at UFC Fight Night 89 this past June. ‘Wonderboy’ proved too much for MacDonald, the past few fights perhaps were starting to catch up with the now war torn veteran.

Free agency was on his mind before the Thompson fight, and it turns out ‘The Canadian Psycho’ may well have acted on those urges. Bellator CEO had previously mentioned MacDonald’s name during an interesting snippet. When given the heads up by a Iain Murray over social media, we noticed the rankings now have changed massively. Where MacDonald used to be number three until today, he is no longer to be found in the divisions order:

Bellator Bound?

Make of this what you will. MacDonald had been vocal about his dislike for the controversial Reebok deal, and also toyed with the growing-in-popularity idea of free agency. Of course he may have opted for some time off, but for the number three guy to disappear from the rankings, it’s probably something more.

Stay tuned for updates on this developing situation.

UPDATE

According to a report on MMAFighting.com, Rory MacDonald is close to finalizing a deal with Bellator MMA. The UFC was reportedly unable to match the contract offered by Bellator.