Jason MacDonald (18-8 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who scored two big wins over Ed Herman and Chris Leben before earning a shot at Rich Franklin at UFC 68, felt that his loss to the former middleweight champ was due in part to feelings of intimidation, according to his most recent MySpace blog.
MacDonald’s fight with Franklin, which took place on the main card of the March 3 event, was stopped after two rounds. MacDonald’s corner threw in the towel, but MacDonald wanted to make it perfectly clear that he didn’t give up.
Let me be clear to all the haters out there, I did not quit! The fight was stopped because I could not see out of my right eye and my left was swelling closed. You try fighting Rich with half an eye! My corner stopped the fight for my own saftey! I’m not saying I wasn’t rocked at the end of the round but I did not even know the fight was stopped!
MacDonald also said that Franklin’s conservative game plan — one that forced MacDonald to be the aggressor — ultimately spelled disaster.
Additionally, MacDonald couldn’t help comparing himself to a fellow Canadian.
This fight was just a small step backwards after two big ones forward. Just like when [Georges St. Pierre] lost to [Matt Hughes] the first time and than got a few more fights under his belt and came back to win the belt. I will do the same! Like [St. Pierre] said, he was a bit intimadated because it was Matt accross the ring. For the first time ever I kind of felt that way looking accross at Rich but after being in there I should not have felt like that.
Prior to the fight, MacDonald had emerged as a top five UFC middleweight contender in many people’s eyes. It’s hard to tell where he may now rank, though he’s surely proven he belongs in the organization.
Frankly, it was nice not to hear MacDonald make any excuses for the loss. In fact, his assessment of the fight seems fairly objective and spot-on.
To read the full post, and to find MacDonald on MySpace, go to
www.myspace.com/jasontheathletemacdonald.
03-13-2007, 11:05 PM
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