Jason MacDonald

Jason 'The Athlete' MacDonald is a Canadian mixed martial artist. He lives in Red Deer, Alta., with his wife Kelly and four children, boys Tristin and Keel, and girls Jett and True. He blogs regularly for Sportsnet.ca.

In 2010 I'll be doing everything in my power to get myself back in the UFC and make it a better year than the one that’s drawn to a close.

As 2009 comes to a close, it’s natural to reflect on where my career has taken me.

It was obviously a very frustrating and disappointing year for me. First off, being cut by the UFC and losing some fights that I really think I should have and could have won.

But I’m trying not to dwell on that. As of Friday it’s a new year. I’m coming off a win and in the new year, I’ll be doing everything in my power to get myself in the UFC for Montreal or maybe Vancouver.

I still think I have a lot of exciting fights in me and I’m still learning as a fighter. And each time I sit and watch a UFC I realize I truly miss being a part of it.

That’s life. I had some really great years, but then I had some rougher ones. On the other side of things, I have plenty to be thankful for. I have a wonderful family, great health and the ability to turn everything around and make 2010 a better year. I’m the kind of person who likes to look at the glass as being half full.

As for the UFC, it turns the calendar over Saturday with the most cursed card I’ve ever seen in my life. At first I kind of laughed when there was another injury and another injury. But now, I just shake my head as I have never seen so many fight changes in my life.

The end-of-the-year card is supposed to be the best one, and now it’s turning out to be just a scramble to put on any decent at all. Just this week we saw another one with an undisclosed injury to Steve Cantwell, and I read it might be career-ending. I hope it’s not, since I enjoy watching Cantwell. I wish him all the best.

That having been said, I’m looking forward to the main event bout between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva. I watched the UFC’s All Access, and I was interested to hear Rashad talk about being depressed after losing the belt, and how being a coach on the reality show helped him.

I hope he’s able to bounce back and get on a win streak. I think he will. He’s been in with a number of great strikers; for example, Chuck Liddell, and he was able to knock him out. I think he’ll be able to handle the standup of Thiago Silva and take him down and ground and pound out a victory.

Sam Stout vs. Joe Lauzon

Lauzon has been away from the game for a while. He’s a decent fighter but you have to think he’ll be a bit rusty. Sam too, but he’s gone through a few fight camps. I’m always going to root for Sammy. He’s got one of the best chins in MMA. After those Spencer Fisher fights, I’ll never doubt his heart or his chin.

Paul Daley vs. Dustin Hazelett

I’m a big fan of Hazelett. Much like myself, he’s a submission guy at heart. He made a good point on the All Access show: So many submission guys are trying to become strikers. (And then they showed a clip of Demian Maia getting KO’ed.) His question was, “Why?” If you’re good at something, go with it. Don’t try to become something you’re not, and just play to your strengths.

I think he’ll do what Martin Kampmann should have done against Daley, which is take him down and get another flashy submission.

Duane Ludwig vs. Jim Miller

Here we have another last-minute replacement in Ludwig. He just fought at the beginning of the month in Ring of Fire, and I’m sure he was helping Rashad in preparation for his fight. Although Ludwig is a world-class striker, I think he’s susceptible to submissions.

Miller is one of those guys who’s extremely strong, and has good ground game. He’ll take Ludwig down and submit him.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel

Gilbert is a great striker and making his UFC debut. I don’t really know what to expect from him. I know he’s fought in Affliction. But I haven’t been following his fighting as of late. I read that he said it was his dream to be in the UFC, so I expect him to come out guns a blazing.

This one has the ability to be Fight of the Night. We’ve seen Dos Santos go in there and completely dismantle Cro Cop; but I’m not sure how much a gauge that is, considering how bad Cro Cop has been in his past few fights. This will be my wild card, I’m going with Yvel.

Martin Kampmann vs. Jacob Volkmann

Definitely Kampmann. I watched Volkmann fight in his last UFC in Vegas. He hung in there with Paulo Thiago, but that’s about all he did. I think Martin will do better than him in every area. Martin will probably TKO this guy before it can ever get to the ground.

Dan Lauzon vs. Cole Miller

This is another example of a guy away from the ring for a long time. I can’t even remember the last time he fought. He’s very skilled like his brother but Cole, even though he’s coming off a loss, is a better fighter, and with a great team at American Kickboxing Academy. I’ll pick Miller by submission.

I’ll just pick one of the untelevised undercard fights...

Jake Ellenberger vs. Mike Pyle

This should be a good fight. I’m actually surprised this hasn’t been bumped up to the main card with all the juggling that’s been going on. Pyle is one of the toughest guys there is at Xtreme Couture, I can say from experience. He’s got a ton of skills. And we saw from Jake’s fight against Carlos Condit that he’s exciting. But I’m going to take Pyle by submission.

Finally, a belated Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a Happy New Year to all my readers. I hope 2010 is a good one for you.