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What made prime Rory MacDonald so good?

Posts #1 and #2 sum it up pretty well. He was very well rounded and very focused/cautious, usually taking advantage of his reach, so he would never do anything crazy and take chances, which allowed him to control most fights.

People were calling him the second GSP, but I guess he lacked the determination or love for the game.
 
Watch his rematch against Lawler and you’ll see why Robbie is awesome.
 
Rory had no known weaknesses.

And ragdolled fools on occasion

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Prime Rory bless
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rakeleaves said:
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.
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You left out Douglas Lima.
He was also ahead of Carlos Condit for most of their fight.
 
he was better than a jack of all trades. he was elite everywhere. if someone had better striking, they did not have better grappling, and vice versa.

he also stayed in his lane and stuck to his gameplans for the most part. he was never winging wheel kicks and sloppy over hands or brawling when he didnt have too. a calculated fighter

Shroud of turinabol said:
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that was round 1 of Maia vs colby. watching old man maia put the paws on him was great.
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rakeleaves said:
Outside of a pre prime Woodley his best wins were never that great. He beat past prime and undersized Penn, borderline top 10 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.
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Typical Sherdogic.
 
rakeleaves said:
Yeah he lost against Condit that doesn't count.
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I might agree with you if he had gotten KO'd in the first minute. When a fight nearly goes the distance, the combatants certainly have a chance to show their mettle, and, win or lose, that certainly speaks to the question posed, viz., "What made him great?"

rakeleaves said:
Lima was never tested against top WWs.
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Any rational viewer would put Lima ahead of some, if not all, of the fighters you mentioned.
 
rakeleaves said:
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.
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His performance against Lawler deserves a mention too. He went toe to toe and was winning until Robbie simply outlasted him.
Wasn't he winning against Condit too?

Rory was very well rounded but wasn't the best at anything.
 
Rory is a professional and treats his profession with respect. This is what separates good plumbers, carpenters, accountants, lawyers, contractors, etc. from bad ones. Rory was never the best but he was always prepared.
 
Noel Wards said:
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.
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Good in all fascists of the game. His Jab was phenomenal too, almost GSP Level with how precise & long it was.

I still think The Rory that fought Lawler the Second time or even the Rory that fought Saffiedine, would beat Colby, Masvidal, Burns, and lastly, would give Usman a run for his money, although I think Prime Lawler was way more scarier than Usman. Rory also laid out the blueprint on how to beat Woodley and he did it soundly too.

Rory was a top tier Welterweight, but that Second Lawler fight really changed him mentally and physically and he hasn't really been "The Red King" since.
 
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Being able to breath with his nose before it got shattered into pixie dust.
 
felmmando said:
I might agree with you if he had gotten KO'd in the first minute. When a fight nearly goes the distance, the combatants certainly have a chance to show their mettle, and, win or lose, that certainly speaks to the question posed, viz., "What made him great?"



Any rational viewer would put Lima ahead of some, if not all, of the fighters you mentioned.
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Eh Condit was barely top10 at that time, and Rory got smashed and TKOed in the 3rd. One of the worst beatdowns in UFC history. That isn't compelling evidence for his "greatness", sorry.

As for Douglas Lima, he's better than Saffedeine and Ellenberger, but the OP is talking abour PRIME Rory - that's why I brought up fighters during his PRIME run. Clearly the Rory in Bellator is not prime, and the fact that Lima lost to that version of Rory, is evidence that Lima wasn't a top1-5 WW like people were claiming.
 
dipstickjimmy said:
Typical Sherdogic.
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Yes it seems like revisionist hating, I agree.... but the fact is Rory's initial run only includes 1 top5 win... and I'm not even sure if Woodley was top5 at the time tbh. Saffeine, Ellenberger, and Penn are good wins, but they weren't elite WWs and those wins haven't aged well. Alot of the hype he got was because he trained with GSP and was so young that people thought his upside was bigger than it turned out to be.
 
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Azor said:
Rory busting the Ali shuffle on BJ was just, comically insulting lol.
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I agree. It was an insult to his opponent, to Ali, to the viewers, and the entirety of combat sports.
 
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