Rory MacDonald ‘Very Confident’ He’ll Finish Jon Fitch At Bellator 220

Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald is extremely confident of a win over former UFC title challenger Jon Fitch.

The Canadian will make his first appearance in the promotion’s Welterweight Grand Prix at Bellator 220, which takes place April 27 in San Jose, California. In Fitch, he’ll have an experienced wrestler to deal with, and MacDonald has no plans on taking the fight to the ground. Instead, he believes he will finish the fight early on.

“He’s a good wrestler, but he’s tough. He can throw big punches, but he likes to grind guys out, be on top, smother them,” MacDonald told Toronto Sun. “I want to keep my distance with kickboxing, and keep it standing. I don’t really want to be taken down or be pressed up against the cage wrestling. I want to be the one controlling the action.

“I’m very confident I can finish this fight in the first couple of rounds. But it’s a five-round fight and I’ll be fighting patiently, but at the same time hunting tactically.”

Eyeing A Rematch

The winner of the fight will go on to face Neiman Gracie in the semifinals of the grand prix. On the other side of the bracket, former Bellator champion Douglas Lima takes on Michael “Venom” Page in the other semifinal.

MacDonald believes Lima will win. And although he defeated the Brazilian to win the Bellator welterweight title, he would be interested in a rematch.

“I think you always have something to prove if you’re a hungry fighter. It was a decision win. He did a lot of damage to my leg. I think it would be an interesting rematch.”