Rory MacDonald overcame a gruesome leg injury to win the Bellator MMA welterweight title Saturday night.
The Canadian defeated Douglas Lima by unanimous decision at Bellator 192 despite MacDonald’s left shin being left severely swollen and damaged due to low leg kicks landed by Lima that caused a massive hematoma.
As you can see in the photo below tweeted out by Bellator president Scott Coker, it wasn’t a pretty sight and MacDonald’s corer literally had to carry him out of the cage because he could not put any weight on his injured leg.
MacDonald was in control of the fight until his leg gave out on him in the third round, midway through the 25-minute contest. Lima had the momentum in the fourth stanza but MacDonald gutted it out and was able to control where the fight took place, taking Lima down to the canvas repeatedly with superior grappling. The judges scored the bout 48-47, 49-45 and 49-46 all in favour of MacDonald.
MacDonald (20-4) was four minutes away from winning the UFC welterweight title back in July 2015 but lost to then-champion Robbie Lawler when he had his nose shattered in the final round of their UFC 189 meeting. Following a 2016 unanimous decision loss to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, his last fight on his UFC contract, the 28-year-old Quesnel, B.C., native chose to sign with Bellator as a free agent. He made his Bellator debut last May when he submitted knockout artist Paul Daley to earn his shot at Lima.
In the main event, Chael Sonnen defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the opening round of Bellator’s Heavyweight Grand Prix. Sonnen used his wrestling to secure a unanimous decision victory over Jackson in a battle of former UFC stars.
Also at Bellator 192, former lightweight champion Michael Chandler got back on the winning track, sweeping the scorecards against Goiti Yamauchi. Chandler lost his 155-pound title to Brent Primus in June because of a freak leg injury sustained early in that bout.
Blue chip prospect Aaron Pico picked up his second consecutive stoppage win, shutting down Shane Kruchten with a vicious body punch just 37 seconds into their featherweight matchup.
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