SEATTLE – As Joe Rogan said, the fight between Rory MacDonald and B.J. Penn could be a changing of the guard; and it was just that.
Both men wasted no time getting to work. Penn attempted a takedown, however MacDonald followed up with a knee. Both men were swinging and neither landed a significant blow in the first round.
However, a body kick changed things up in the second round. MacDonald threw a powerful kick to the body which had Penn wincing in pain. He followed up with some punches and kicks to the body, but couldn’t finish the veteran Penn. Just when it looked as if Penn was out of it he returns to the center of the Octagon and threw some punches of his own.
In the third, MacDonald used his reach and landed some good jabs to ultimately end up in the clinch. No significant damage was done in the third round, but MacDonald used his game-plan to a “T” and picked up the unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27).
MacDonald has won four in a row and is 14-1 in his Professional MMA career. The win over Penn is by far the biggest of his career.
Following the fight, MacDonald cut off UFC commentator Joe Rogan to call out the man who gave MacDonald the only loss of his career, Carlos Condit.
When speaking about the fight with Penn and how it was the biggest of his career he said that Penn was a huge role model for him.
“It’s one guy that I looked up to growing up. He was a huge role model for me.”
Rogan then asked him about the body shots that almost finished Penn in the second and MacDonald wished he finished him.
“I was being calm, cool and collected at all times. I was pissed that I didn’t finish him, because I always want to finish.”
MacDonald spoke with the media following his fight and said it was an honor fighting Penn and he is very satisfied with his conditioning.
“With all the things we said to each other hyping the fight I just want to say that it has been a huge honor fighting BJ. I’m happy with my performance and the new techniques I used successfully out there. Looking back I’m sure I will find a lot of areas that I can improve in but I pushed myself very hard and I’m satisfied with my conditioning. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t get the finish but not everything can go according to plan.”
