It’s no surprise that current Bellator MMA Welterweight (170lbs) Champion Rory MacDonald wants to fight the best of the best not only in his weight class but the best in the world.
Rory “The Red King” MacDonald, 28, (20-4 career) is 2-0 inside the Bellator MMA Octagon. Rory sure didn’t disappoint anyone in his debut at Bellator 179 on May 19, 2017, where he snapped his two-fight losing streak by defeating Paul Daley by Rear Naked-Choke in the second round. In this bout Rory looked phenomenal by staying one step ahead of Daley throughout the course of the fight, looking crisp on the feet and on the ground. With the big win over “Semtex” Daley, MacDonald earned a crack at Bellator Welterweight Champion Douglas Lima.
Douglas Lima had successfully defended his belt once against former UFC welterweight contender Lorenz Larkin at Bellator NYC on June 24, 2017, where the fight went the full 5 rounds with Lima winning by UD (50-45, 48-47 x2).
However, with Bellator 200 rapidly coming towards us (May, 25) there’s not a shadow of a doubt that Rory will attempt to defend his 170lbs belt before moving up to Middleweight (185lbs). His first Title defence will more than likely be against Andrey Koreshkov.
Why do I believe Andrei will get the shot at Rory?
Andrey “The Spartan” Koreshkov is young at only 27, has a career record of 20-2, is 12-2 in the Bellator MMA organisation. Koreshkov has notable wins over former WEC/UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson and former Bellator MMA Welterweight Champion Douglas Lima and is currently 5-1 in his last 6 fights with his last win coming over Chidi Njokuani at Bellator 182, by an incredible TKO finish in the very first round. This win extended Koreshkov’s professional MMA record to 20-2 with 11 KO/TKO stoppages.
Whilst Rory is the one calling the two men in question out he is not the only one firing shots, Gegard Mousasi has come out with his statement, saying:
“Rory MacDonald didn’t have a great performance either, but I’m not going to go on Twitter and say stupid sh*t. After this fight with Rafael Carvalho, hopefully, we can get it done and he can come and show his skills, but he will come up short. His style is perfect for me, he moves forward. He’ll get his ass kicked, probably. If I beat Carvalho door will open. I might go up to Light Heavyweight and maybe I can accomplish a title there. If I can do well in the title fight and I win, I can achieve bigger things.”
Who is Rafael Carvalho you ask?
Rafael Carvalho de Souza (15-1 MMA) is a 31-year-old Brazilian native who fights out of Campo, Grande, Moro Grosso do Sul, Brazil. “The Blessed” has 12 of his wins coming by KO/TKO and is the current Bellator MMA Middleweight Champion. Carvalho currently has 3 successful title defence’s, with notable wins over Melvin Manhoef twice and Joe Shilling, and seeks to extend this to four defences with a win over Mousasi.
With the talks being in the works for a Rory MacDonald and Gegard Mousasi showdown, Gegard must first do his part and defeat Rafael Carvalho to become the Middleweight champion.