Rory MacDonald Says Trilogy Fight With Douglas Lima Is ‘Inevitable’

Rory MacDonald feels a trilogy fight with Douglas Lima is only inevitable.

Lima regained the Bellator welterweight title after outpointing MacDonald over five rounds in their Bellator 232 rematch last night. As a result, he also won the Bellator welterweight grand prix.

While Lima performed much better compared to their first outing, the rematch wasn’t as action-packed or exciting as their first title fight. MacDonald, in particular, could have shown more urgency and he believes that was a factor.

“I had good moments. It was close every, single round,” MacDonald explained post-fight (via MMA Fighting). “What I feel I should have done is put the gas on a little more. I felt like when I had good moments, I backed off, let him recover and I just gave too much leeway instead of having that gas pedal on a little earlier. I felt comfortable with where I was in the fight. I felt confident, maybe more confident than I should have been in the scoring.

“The rounds just got away from me. Every round was tight though. I’m not too down about it. Just obviously wish I could have done a little more during the fight.”

With the score now tied at one win apiece, it’s only fitting for the two to have a third fight. And MacDonald believes it’s “very likely”:

“It’s very likely,” MacDonald said. “I mean we had two close fights. He won one, I won one. It’s kind of inevitable that we’ll probably fight again. … I wouldn’t say no. If they wanted to do it, they could do it.”

However, MacDonald needs to sign a new deal first. His fight last night was the last of his Bellator contract. However, the Canadian seems confident he will remain with Bellator:

“First I’ve got to re-sign,” he added. “My contract expired so we’ve got to deal with that situation but if they want to give me a title shot, sure.”

Do you want to see a trilogy?