Rory MacDonald has decided to retire from mixed martial arts at age 33. While MacDonald is relatively young, he’s spent the past 16 years as an MMA Pro.
MacDonald’s last bout lasted less than 4 minutes, MacDonald lost via first-round TKO in the 2022 PFL semifinals matchup.
It’s safe to say that his decision was not made in spur of the moment, despite the fact that he took off his gloves afterward- which is a symbolic gesture that hints typically at retirement.
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His wife first shared several instagram stories pretty much confirming the decision to retire.
He later confirmed himself 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.” MacDonald wrote.
“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.”
“thank you to the ufc, bellator, pfl for the opportunity to fight on the world stage”, he continued. “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 together”
MacDonald (23-10) debuted his professional MMA career in 2005 at age 16 and signed with UFC in 2010.
Instead of beginning his career as a wrestler, boxer, or jiu-jitsu practitioner, MacDonald trained only in mixed martial arts (MMA) from the beginning.
In his first 11 in the UFC, MacDonald had a 9-2 record. He defeated some of the top competitors of his time, including Tyron Woodley, Nate Diaz, BJ Penn, and Demian Maia. In July 2015, he attempted to challenge Robbie Lawler for the UFC championship in what is regarded as one of the greatest MMA bouts ever.
In 2017, he signed with Bellator and left UFC. In 2018, he won the Bellator welterweight championship. The following year, MacDonald challenged Gegard Mousasi for the middleweight title in Bellator, but he was defeated by TKO in the second round.
MacDonald joined the PFL in 2019 but struggled to match his prior success, going just 2-4 in the promotion.