- Joined
- Apr 29, 2015
- Messages
- 10,731
- Reaction score
- 2
http://www.mmalatestnews.com/michae...-135-division-bryan-caraway-relationship-god/
Having turned pro at 16 years of age #6 ranked UFC Bantamweight Michael McDonald has been impressive ever since his debut tallying together a record of 17-3. Now at only 25m McDonald is one of the top prospects in the Bantamweight division fight now since coming back from his 3-year layoff due to suffering from an injury.
Now one fight back since injury and only weeks away from his second Michael is set to take on another top prospect in John Lineker in the Main Event of UFC Fight Night 91 who is looking to take the Bantamweight division by storm. Lineker is a quite tough and tricky opponent but isn’t prompting Michael to change anything in his preparations from the usual. “The same way I’d prepare for anyone really, I’ve tried a couple of times to change what I do depending on who my opponent is and you know what their strengths are but it never worked out that well. When I fought Barao and Faber they were super strong with their in what they’re good at and I thought I tried to change a little bit of my fighting style to accommodate them and I felt like it never really worked. Everytime that I have felt most dominant. So I’m not really not gonna change anything at all. I’m gonna go back and fix all the mistakes from my last fight”
Lineker is known for his incredible power and ability to knock out his opponent, however, it wouldn’t stop “Mayday” from standing and trading with him “I’m willing to stand up and trade with anyone really”
When asked about how he sees the fight going then, Michael explained how he believes you should not expect how the fight takes place in order to avoid disappointment and that it is best to prepare for every possible outcome. “It’s a mistake to expect how the fights gonna go cause if it doesn’t go that way I’ll let myself down and be caught off guard. I think the best way to do it is to just prepare for every technique, scenario then I’ll just go in there and just play it by ear.” He went on to state his willingness and ability to bring the fight anywhere in order to get the win. “I’m gonna be me and I’m always dangerous on the feet and always willing to stay there and if I feel he’s doing really good there I might change it up and go to the ground, change my striking up maybe.”
When fighters are out for long periods of time you expect them to not be the same or to be slightly rusty in a sense. Well, that wasn’t the case for Michael McDonald as he came back from a 3-year layoff with a POTN earning a victory over Masanori Kanehara, which he also believed he was confident in with no ring rust when asked about it. “No I don’t really think so, the confidence doesn’t come from how many times you’ve been in the cage, it comes training and as long as you’re training solidly you should feel generally confident and it shouldn’t really make a difference and I did feel like I had a comeback but I didn’t feel like I had ring rust”
Currently, in the 135 division things, there are a lot of shifts in the rankings with a lot of fighters in for a good shout at a title shot after some big wins in recent events. This would certainly make it tougher for fighters to get a shot at the belt. This is something he has not really thought about, he then went on to add his thoughts on the division and the difficulty of earning a shot as well as staying on top. “I’m not thinking about it really I guess in theory it could be I mean anytime you got people who are really good it is. But the bantamweight division has always been strong, there’s always been great competition there. It’s always an uphill battle to get to the top, to get a title shot, but it’s even harder to stay there. I mean Cruz has done an amazing job and despite obviously having his fair share of setbacks but you do see a lot of people get title shots, but you don’t see them staying there very long.”
Using the Middleweight division as an example due to the quick change in champions at the top of the division lately, McDonald emphasised on the difficulty of staying on top as well giving his thoughts on a possible future champion at 185. “Yeah it’s very very tough [to stay on top], I mean 185 has some incredible fighters right now and he’s definitely gonna have his work cut out for him but I think that Yoel Romero is gonna be the champion in the future so they’re gonna have their work cut out for them”
There are many fun fights that could be made in the Bantamweight division, without looking past Lineker though Michael says a fight with Bryan Caraway would be of interest in the future. “Well Bryan Caraway has called me out a couple of times and it’d be nice to fight him”
Moving the way from the fighting aspect of the conversation I was interested to know about his spirituality since McDonald speaks very openly about his spirituality and love for god. When asking him about how this strong relationship came about he told me about many things biblical such as the ‘little g gods’,which are the things that make us happy. After explaining about how his ‘little g god’ from his youth was competition, he then moved towards telling me the heartwarming story during a rough patch in his life when he finally connected with god and how god spoke to him for the first time. “To be blunt, with all these successful things that happened to me throughout my career and my life for about six months I can remember not being happy and for six months being in a complete depression. The one day I was at Oakdale MMA, I had a private lesson. When I was just getting ready for this lesson, the guy called me and said “I’m an hour away” when we were meant to be doing it then and now. So I went outside and stood on the street corner and there was this red light that seemed like it just lasted for a year. I remember sitting there, watching the cars go by and life go on and it just in that moment seemed so useless, I remember for the first time in my life I questioned why I was even alive. When I did, God spoke to me for the first time, people always said to me when I was a kid, “oh god spoke to me” and well god didn’t speak to me so it was just another reason for me not to feel good enough. At that moment when I said myself “why am I even alive, god spoke to me for the first time and he said said “I love you and I’m gonna give you a taste of joy” and out of nowhere he just said it to me and I heard it. For no other reason that that god told me he was gonna give me joy, I ran to Starbucks happiest the ever been in my life. My exact words then were “I think I’m gonna give this church thing another try”.
After then noting how he learned there was a difference between god and church, he finished off his beautiful story on a high not breaking down how important god is to him and the major positive impact god has had on his life. “It’s not something I do to make me feel good, it’s not something that I’ve done to make me feel like a better person or anything like that, I’m a failure, I had everything and I didn’t even wanna live. Now I’m not this great awesome person, I’m a failure, I’m a sinner and god called out to me out of the sky and he told me that he gives me grace, he loves me, he redeemed me and that all work is done it’s finished and I am the prodigal son so because of that god has won my heart. It’s not because I wanna do all these religious and good things it’s cause god has won my heart and I’m never gonna be the same cause of it.”
Now one fight back since injury and only weeks away from his second Michael is set to take on another top prospect in John Lineker in the Main Event of UFC Fight Night 91 who is looking to take the Bantamweight division by storm. Lineker is a quite tough and tricky opponent but isn’t prompting Michael to change anything in his preparations from the usual. “The same way I’d prepare for anyone really, I’ve tried a couple of times to change what I do depending on who my opponent is and you know what their strengths are but it never worked out that well. When I fought Barao and Faber they were super strong with their in what they’re good at and I thought I tried to change a little bit of my fighting style to accommodate them and I felt like it never really worked. Everytime that I have felt most dominant. So I’m not really not gonna change anything at all. I’m gonna go back and fix all the mistakes from my last fight”
Lineker is known for his incredible power and ability to knock out his opponent, however, it wouldn’t stop “Mayday” from standing and trading with him “I’m willing to stand up and trade with anyone really”
When asked about how he sees the fight going then, Michael explained how he believes you should not expect how the fight takes place in order to avoid disappointment and that it is best to prepare for every possible outcome. “It’s a mistake to expect how the fights gonna go cause if it doesn’t go that way I’ll let myself down and be caught off guard. I think the best way to do it is to just prepare for every technique, scenario then I’ll just go in there and just play it by ear.” He went on to state his willingness and ability to bring the fight anywhere in order to get the win. “I’m gonna be me and I’m always dangerous on the feet and always willing to stay there and if I feel he’s doing really good there I might change it up and go to the ground, change my striking up maybe.”
When fighters are out for long periods of time you expect them to not be the same or to be slightly rusty in a sense. Well, that wasn’t the case for Michael McDonald as he came back from a 3-year layoff with a POTN earning a victory over Masanori Kanehara, which he also believed he was confident in with no ring rust when asked about it. “No I don’t really think so, the confidence doesn’t come from how many times you’ve been in the cage, it comes training and as long as you’re training solidly you should feel generally confident and it shouldn’t really make a difference and I did feel like I had a comeback but I didn’t feel like I had ring rust”
Currently, in the 135 division things, there are a lot of shifts in the rankings with a lot of fighters in for a good shout at a title shot after some big wins in recent events. This would certainly make it tougher for fighters to get a shot at the belt. This is something he has not really thought about, he then went on to add his thoughts on the division and the difficulty of earning a shot as well as staying on top. “I’m not thinking about it really I guess in theory it could be I mean anytime you got people who are really good it is. But the bantamweight division has always been strong, there’s always been great competition there. It’s always an uphill battle to get to the top, to get a title shot, but it’s even harder to stay there. I mean Cruz has done an amazing job and despite obviously having his fair share of setbacks but you do see a lot of people get title shots, but you don’t see them staying there very long.”
Using the Middleweight division as an example due to the quick change in champions at the top of the division lately, McDonald emphasised on the difficulty of staying on top as well giving his thoughts on a possible future champion at 185. “Yeah it’s very very tough [to stay on top], I mean 185 has some incredible fighters right now and he’s definitely gonna have his work cut out for him but I think that Yoel Romero is gonna be the champion in the future so they’re gonna have their work cut out for them”
There are many fun fights that could be made in the Bantamweight division, without looking past Lineker though Michael says a fight with Bryan Caraway would be of interest in the future. “Well Bryan Caraway has called me out a couple of times and it’d be nice to fight him”
Moving the way from the fighting aspect of the conversation I was interested to know about his spirituality since McDonald speaks very openly about his spirituality and love for god. When asking him about how this strong relationship came about he told me about many things biblical such as the ‘little g gods’,which are the things that make us happy. After explaining about how his ‘little g god’ from his youth was competition, he then moved towards telling me the heartwarming story during a rough patch in his life when he finally connected with god and how god spoke to him for the first time. “To be blunt, with all these successful things that happened to me throughout my career and my life for about six months I can remember not being happy and for six months being in a complete depression. The one day I was at Oakdale MMA, I had a private lesson. When I was just getting ready for this lesson, the guy called me and said “I’m an hour away” when we were meant to be doing it then and now. So I went outside and stood on the street corner and there was this red light that seemed like it just lasted for a year. I remember sitting there, watching the cars go by and life go on and it just in that moment seemed so useless, I remember for the first time in my life I questioned why I was even alive. When I did, God spoke to me for the first time, people always said to me when I was a kid, “oh god spoke to me” and well god didn’t speak to me so it was just another reason for me not to feel good enough. At that moment when I said myself “why am I even alive, god spoke to me for the first time and he said said “I love you and I’m gonna give you a taste of joy” and out of nowhere he just said it to me and I heard it. For no other reason that that god told me he was gonna give me joy, I ran to Starbucks happiest the ever been in my life. My exact words then were “I think I’m gonna give this church thing another try”.
After then noting how he learned there was a difference between god and church, he finished off his beautiful story on a high not breaking down how important god is to him and the major positive impact god has had on his life. “It’s not something I do to make me feel good, it’s not something that I’ve done to make me feel like a better person or anything like that, I’m a failure, I had everything and I didn’t even wanna live. Now I’m not this great awesome person, I’m a failure, I’m a sinner and god called out to me out of the sky and he told me that he gives me grace, he loves me, he redeemed me and that all work is done it’s finished and I am the prodigal son so because of that god has won my heart. It’s not because I wanna do all these religious and good things it’s cause god has won my heart and I’m never gonna be the same cause of it.”
