Up Two Rounds On Robbie Lawler, Rory MacDonald ‘Didn’t Know What Year It Was’ After Fifth

Long thought to be the heir apparent to former champion Georges St. Pierre’s long-held welterweight throne, top-ranked contender Rory MacDonald nearly assumed that mantle against Robbie Lawler in the insane co-main event of last night’s (Sat., July 11, 2015) UFC 189 pay-per-view (PPV) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch full highlights here).

‘The Red King’ had Lawler on the ropes on several occasions, ripping his lip open with a bevy of devastating head kicks, elbows, and punch combinations. But ‘Ruthless’ showed the hear t of a true champion, coming back from impending doom to use a laser like jab and precision punching to badly break MacDonald’s nose and stop the fight one minute into the final frame for a historical win. And apparently needed it, as all three judges had MacDonald up three rounds to one with a score of 39-37 heading into the fifth (courtesy of MMA Fighting):

Lawler came back to win a bout he was apparently losing (although many, including Dana White, had it 2-2 heading into the last round), and both fighters came out bruised and battered in their respectful post-fight picture at the hospital. Lawler’s lip was hanging off of his face like a piece of meat, but it was MacDonald who actually suffered the more serious injuries.

According to his head coach Firas Zahabi, MacDonald not only suffered a broken nose in the heartbreaking loss, but he also broke his foot kicking Lawler at some point.

The beating he both gave and received was an epic one, and in the end, MacDonald simply couldn’t stand back up from a vicious straight shot that smashed his already broken nose to an almost unrecognizable state. White detailed the scene at the post-fight presser, proclaiming it one of the best fights of all-time and that McDonald ‘didn’t know what year it was’ when he was questioned:

“If you look at Rory MacDonald, his nose was broken in that first round,” White said. “He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, continued to fight, and it’s looking like a one-sided clinic. Then he hurts Robbie Lawler, then he follows up with like 10 head kicks and doesn’t finish Lawler. Lawler hangs in there and makes it through that.

“”Robbie Lawler’s lip, if you could’ve been in the Octagon and saw this lip, he would talk and this part of the lip would move and the other part wouldn’t. [Rory MacDonald’s] nose was broken. They asked him, when Rory got out back, they said, ‘what year is it?’ He didn’t know what year it was. First of all, it was a war. And a complete display of chin, heart, grit, dogged determination, and the will to win from both guys. When you talk about (the best) fights ever, that’s what I’m talking about.”

That’s what kind of a fight it was. And while MacDonald didn’t emerge with the gold that so many had already placed on him when he came to the UFC, he did show the skills and heart of a truly elite athlete in defeat.

He’s going to have to show even more of that to work his way back to a third shot at Lawler.

Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports