Rory MacDonald made a strong Bellator debut at Bellator 179 last Friday, and 'The Red King' plans to make an even stronger impression in the coming months.
MacDonald, a former UFC welterweight title challenger, dominated and submitted British knockout artist Paul Daley last week at the Wembley Arena in London, England, and will fight the winner of the 170-pound championship tilt between Douglas Lima and Lorenz Larkin at Bellator 180.
MacDonald doesn't just plan on capturing the welterweight title, either; as one of the biggest welterweights in the division, the 27-year-old talent also has his sights set on middleweight gold.
MacDonald told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (h/t Abhinav Kini of IBTimes UK) that he plans to become Bellator's first-ever simultaneous two-division champion by the end of the year.
"I'd like to fight for the middleweight title maybe at the end of the year if there is a big card we can promote and get me and the middleweight champion on there," MacDonald said.
"Obviously, I am not looking past the welterweight championship fight, I'm just saying if everything goes as planned. An end of the year show for the middleweight title would be fantastic."
The current Bellator middleweight champion is 30-year-old Rafael Carvalho, who defended his strap in back-to-back fights against knockout machine Melvin Manhoef.
MacDonald, a student of the renowned Firas Zahabi, started out his career as a lightweight but soon made the transition to welterweight. The Montreal-based fighter has never fought at middleweight.
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