Former UFC title challenger and Bellator welterweight champion, Rory MacDonald, has decided to officially retire from the sport of MMA.
MacDonald made the announcement following his first-round TKO defeat to Dilano Taylor in the 2022 PFL welterweight semi-finals this past Saturday evening in the promotion's latest event in Cardiff, Wales. He provided the following statement via his Instagram page, confirming his departure from fighting.
"My time has come to put the gloves down for good. I'm so thankful for this sport and every person I've 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 I'm 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, traveling to all parts of the planet and meeting so many people.
I've learned so much about myself through this career, not all of it good, and I've made so many mistakes along the way, but here I am 33 yrs old a better man because of those mistakes, to which I'm very grateful I've 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 acknowledgment and its been hard adjusting to attention like that but I am truly thankful for your kindness you've shown me! Thank you to all my friends and family that have went out of their 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, you've been so generous and I love 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, you've all been really cool people to hang out and work with, sorry you had to put up with me being cranky and needy most of the time we spent together. Thank you to my coaches and my training partners and managers!"
The 33-year-old Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada native retires with a 23-10-1 professional record and faced the likes of former two-division UFC champion, B.J. Penn, former UFC welterweight champions Tyron Woodley, and Robbie Lawler, former WEC welterweight champ, Carlos Condit, former Bellator champs, Douglas Lima and Gegard Mousasi, Nate Diaz, Stephen Thompson, Demian Maia, Jon Fitch, Paul Daley, Mike Pyle, Tarec Saffiedine, Jake Ellenberger, and Neiman Gracie over the course of his nearly 17-year career.
One of the most iconic moments in mixed martial arts.
— #UFC278 on BT Sport (@btsportufc) August 15, 2022
The epitome of violence.
Thank you for the memories @rory_macdonald -- pic.twitter.com/dDjz7rb4rC
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