Rory MacDonald has made the decision to retire from MMA competition after being finished in the opening round for the first time in his career at 2022 PFL Playoffs 2.
MacDonald (23-10-1), a former Bellator welterweight champion and UFC title challenger, suffered his fourth loss in his past five fights on Saturday when he was knocked out by Dilano Taylor less than four minutes into their semifinal playoff bout at Cardiff Motorpoint Arena in Wales.
His wife, Olivia, was first to reveal the news of MacDonald’s plan to retire. He subsequently released a statement confirming the news (via Instagram):
My time has come to put the gloves down for good. im so thankful for this sport and every person ive been able to meet along the way.
i started this sport as a 14 yr old kid, i still remember my first day and knowing this is what i wanna spend my life doing. the passion for martial arts and becoming a pro mma fighter gave me hope and a way to a better life! and im so thankful to god for putting that gym toshido mma in kelowna in my path. it truly changed the direction of my life and saved me!
what an adventure this career has been, 17 years of professional fighting. it all came and went so fast! so many painful trainings that are etched into my being, travelling to all parts of the planet and meeting so many people.
ive learned so much about myself through this career, not all of it good . and ive made so many mistakes along the way, but here i am 33 yrs old a better man becuase of those mistakes, to which im very grateful ive grown up lol
i wanna thank all of my fans that have been so supportive, i never got into the sport for fame or any acknowledgement and its been hard adjusting to attention like that but i am truly thankful for your kindess youve shown me!
thank you to all my friends and family that have went out of there way to help me live out my dream of fighting at the highest level of mma, thank you for believing in me, and caring so much, youve been so generous and i love you you all.
thank you to the ufc, bellator, pfl for the opportunity to fight on the world stage
and all the staff of those organizations, youve all be really cool ppl to hangout and work with, sorry you had to put up with me being cranky and needy most of the time we spent togetherthank you to my coaches and my training partners and managers!
It’s a decision that has likely been brewing for some time. MacDonald said several years ago was starting to have internal conflicts about his participation in the sport, especially in terms of dishing out damage to opponents.
The results have slowly but surely taken a turn for the worse since then. MacDonald has gone 3-5 over the past three years.
Despite being just 33, MacDonald has endured a long and grueling run in the sport. He made his professional debut in October 2005 as a 16-year-old and went 10-0 to start his career.
The Canadian got the call to the UFC in January 2010, and after winning his debut, pushed former interim UFC champ Carlos Condit to the brink in his sophomore octagon appearance.
From there, MacDonald racked up notable victories over the likes of Nate Diaz, B.J. Penn, Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley inside the octagon.
The turning point, however, was MacDonald’s Fight of the Year loss to Robbie Lawler in their title bout at UFC 189 in July 2015. He took much damage in the bout and never seemed to be the same as he was before it.
After making his UFC exit, MacDonald signed with Bellator and made his debut in May 2017. He won the promotion’s welterweight title against Douglas Lima, but later lost it in a rematch.
MacDonald then signed with PFL, where he went 2-4 with wins against Brett Cooper and Curtis Millender. He lost in the welterweight playoff semifinals in 2021 and 2022.
