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Rory MacDonald says UFC wasn't 'respectful' of its fighters with Reebok deal

Rory MacDonald lost his last two UFC fights. (Getty)
Rory MacDonald lost his last two UFC fights. (Getty)

Former UFC welterweight title contender Rory MacDonald’s recent announcement that he signed with Bellator was arguably the biggest coup for the company. After a seven-year tenure with the UFC that saw the Canadian go 9-4 with victories over the likes of Demian Maia, B.J. Penn, Nate Diaz and current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, MacDonald decided that his time with the UFC was up and sought a new career path with Bellator.

“They’re straight-up guys,” MacDonald said during an interview with “The MMA Hour” regarding his reasons for leaving MMA’s biggest promotion for Bellator. “They’re easy to talk to, they’re approachable, and they have their ears open. They don’t just have their plan and tell the fighters to just do what they want. They want to hear what the fighters want to do.”

MacDonald’s decision came down to a number of things, which included accessibility to the higher-ups in Bellator and being interested in something that he believes is both “creative” and “new.”

Although MacDonald didn’t give up details regarding his new contract, it was evident that he wasn’t happy with his compensation in the UFC. In his instant classic showdown with Robbie Lawler, MacDonald earned a disclosed salary of $59,000. The pay for the biggest fight of his life — which took a great deal out of both fighters — was clearly not enough and nudged MacDonald out the door. It also didn’t help that the Canadian was not a fan of the UFC’s deal with Reebok that cut out the fighters’ ability to earn extra income via sponsorship.

The much-maligned deal opened MacDonald’s eyes that perhaps he should test the waters of free agency and that ultimately led him to Bellator.

“I just think the UFC went about [the Reebok deal] the wrong way,” said MacDonald, who happens to be sponsored by Reebok. “They didn’t really think of the fighters, I don’t think, even though I think they’re trying to make it out like they were. There was no discussion. It was just, OK, this is happening and deal with it, kind of a thing. And that’s not very respectful.”

MacDonald isn’t sure if his relationship with Reebok will be jeopardized now that he’s signed with Bellator. But he certainly hopes that the athletic apparel company sticks by his side.

“I guess we’ll see,” he said. “I still think that they have a great opportunity because of all the things that I’m going to be doing outside of the cage with Bellator, a lot of shows and good promotion. I think they could reap the benefits of that as well, not just reaching the UFC’s market. That’s a discussion I need to have with them.”

Before closing out the interview, MacDonald revealed another situation that recently cropped up during his UFC tenure that drew his ire. Without going into great detail, it apparently had to do with Robbie Lawler’s drug test results from their UFC 189 showdown.

“I don’t play with any dirty drugs, any performance enhancers or something I don’t believe in morally,” MacDonald said. “Some test results came out four times higher than the limit for my fight with him. It could be [expletive]. That’s why we have to look into it. I don’t want to start pointing fingers or anything. Look at that team’s history. It makes me very suspicious but I can’t go out and start saying for sure without making my research that all this is true.”

MacDonald’s allegation would be a bombshell of a revelation, but there hasn’t been any evidence to support it as of yet.

But regardless, with everything factored in, it appears that MacDonald is comfortable with his decision to continue his MMA career in Bellator.