What made prime Rory MacDonald so good?

[pankrat]

Outside of a pre prime Woodley his best wins were never that great. He beat past prime and undersized Penn, borderline top10 Saffedeine, and Jake Ellenberger who turned out the be a flash in the pan. Never beat a solid top 5 fighter outside of maybe Woodley at the time, but I don't remember where he was ranked.

Apart from Woodley, he beat Maia and Lima. Two of the very best Brazilians WWs of all-time.
He didn't just beat Tarec he KOed him. Finished Daley too.
His fights with Lawler ended as they did but also tell about how good McDonald was.

 

[pankrat]

He was one of the 1st complete MMA fighters out there,at that time bjj guys wrestlers or kickboxers/karate guys were turning into MMA but he started training MMA very young age

One of the first well rounded fighters who could do everything vs a bunch of one dimensional fighters or fighters who only had one path to victory

One of the first well rounded fighters in 2010??
....

Rory was one of the most well rounded WWs in his pime but to say a guy who emerged around 2010 is "the first complete fighter" is silly

We had plenty of guys especially from Brazil and Japan who had been doing MMA since their teens by early 2000s. In North America too. I mean, GSP is 8 years the elder, wtf Rory the first anything lol

 

[dipstickjimmy]

At one point, he w as elite. When did I say he wasn't? My argument is that if you actually look at his prime run compared to what people expected he would become and what the hype behind him was at the time, he fell short. He was arguably "great"... was his prime "so great"? That point is debatable. Again you are bringing up Lima, but the OP is about prime Rory. Maybe you should focus on your reading comprehension skills before throwing out the F-bomb in some self-righteous tirade.

Sorry I don't understand the F-bomb comment? I haven't used any swear words towards you. Not sure about the "Again" comment re Lima. I mentioned Lima once. I consider Lima to be a a very good WW and when did Rory's Prime begin and end in your mind???? I don't consider his Prime to be gone the second he left the UFC. They didn't want to pay him and he got more money in Bellator.

 

[abject]

I'm guessing from what people say about him.

Pretty good wrestling. Not GSP level. But one of the best in the division?

Good BJJ.

Quite good striking. In so far his length, height, and athleticism carried him. And with a real solid jab?

Tell me Sherdoggers. I just started following the sport 6 months ago.

Its widely considered Lawler was juiced for the Rory fights. Its sad becuase usada made robbie totally gun shy when against Rory he was a monster.

 

[Th3Sav4ge]

maia landed one well strike and then got dominated the rest of the fight. colby left maia in a pool of his own blood

yes after round 1 colby took over.

Nate had respect for him too. Here's him meeting Matt Hughes and Lawler before that fight



Fucked around and found out. He was back to the lightweights in no time

damn. iv defended nate when people say he sounds punchy because he always sounded a bit different. but damn his speech used to be alot clearer

 

[Captain Herb]

Tough as nails. (Not quite as tough as Lawler but who is?) I'll remember that fight forever, each one looked to be finished multiple times but just kept coming back. An extreme test of will.

 

[Dick]

I called Rory a future champion when I first saw him fight in KOTC in 05 or 06. He was 16 years old man handling grown ass men. He was indeed a special talent.

In his mind he was a killer inside the cage, unfuckwithable. The change in camps to Tristar completely changed his game up, and the 2nd fight with Robbie killed his confidence.

 

[613]

He was good at everything, but not elite at anything. Basically GSP light

 

[Jfreemandrums]

His FOTN performance against Maia was probably his 2nd best win.

Maia was ranked #6 at the time and then went on to win 7 straight fights afterwords (5 of which where ranked opponents)

Holy shit i forgot how great that fight was. A real delight. All aspects of MMA displayed. Huge heart from both guys, big momentum swings in both directions. They both really left it all in the ring

 

[chillyoo]

He hadn’t fought Robbie Lawler yet

 

[Cormiers towel]

Pretty much just hype