22 year old Tri-Star prospect Rory MacDonald may not have to worry about much of the same things “normal” young adults are faced with at that age. While some of his peers are learning how to make it in the professional world, or how to deal with hangovers for the first time, MacDonald has to live up to the idea that he may soon be the biggest mixed martial arts product coming out of Canada not named Georges St. Pierre. Now that status is potentially putting him on a collision course with one of his teammate’s biggest rivals — BJ Penn. While this bout has not been officially announced, the mere speculation has caused the imaginations of fans to run wild.
This all started during an interview with Ariel Helwani during this week’s MMA Hour, where MacDonald mentioned that Penn was the competitor he would most like to face next.
“I feel there’s a guy that I want to fight before he leaves the sport, and that’s B.J. Penn,” MacDonald stated. “He’s a legend, and I think it’d be a really good matchup for me to have that fight in Toronto.”
It took less than 24 hours for the “Prodigy” to respond by taking to his official website, BJPenn.com, to issue his statement of: “Rory, I accept your challenge!”
And just like that we are now looking at what will be a very important match in both of these individuals’ careers. While some may be quick to conclude that this is a bad fight for Penn and that he has everything to lose, that isn’t truly the case. Both individuals would go into this bout with a lot riding on the outcome.
Saying that there is a lot expected of MacDonald would be a massive understatement. The UFC’s Joe Rogan has gone on record in stating that he believes MacDonald has the potential to be better than St. Pierre. That would make him better than one of the most dominant champions the sport has ever seen. While those are lofty expectations, he has done a good job of living up to them during his UFC tenure so far, as he continues to look better each and every time he steps into the Octagon. And had he been able to hold on for the final few moments of that 2010 bout against now-interim champion Carlos Condit (the man next in line to face his mentor, incidentally), there’s no telling where his career would be at this point.
Now he may potentially square off with one of St. Pierre’s biggest rivals. “Rush” has two wins over the Hawaiian, and the disdain the two competitors have for each other isn’t a secret in any way. In order to live up to the expectations that have been placed upon his career, MacDonald has to defeat Penn soundly. Anything else will cause fans and media to temper their enthusiasm for the young Canadian. Consider the reaction that Phil Davis received after his fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira back at UFC Fight Night 24. Before the event, many considered him to be the one fighter in the light heavyweight division who could potentially challenge Jon Jones‘ dominance, but a less than stellar victory caused them to reexamine their perceptions of his ceiling.
While that may be unfair, the fact is that it still happens, and when it does, it does have an effect on a prospect’s career.
While a victory over Penn won’t catapult MacDonald into the title picture, it would still bring an aura to his resume that would be tremendously valuable at this point in his career. The possibility of MacDonald dominating Penn in a fashion that evokes comparisons to GSP would reinforce those high expectations, and go a long way towards building his “name” with casual fans. That is well worth the danger of taking this fight.
Penn, on the other hand, has a career riding on this fight. Another loss, especially if one-sided, will potentially put him out of the sport. Yes, he’s gone back and forth with retirement talk over the years, but with one win in two years, it is unlikely that Penn will want to continue fighting if he suffers another loss. Penn said it himself after being defeated by Nick Diaz; he wants to continue putting on strong performances against top guys, and if he falls short of his own personal expectations, that would be enough to cause him to walk away once and for all.
If Penn truly wants to make one last title run, he should attempt to do so in the lightweight division, but his drive to be successful in everything he does has caused him to continue to compete at 170 when the rest of the division has passed him by. MacDonald is a representative of the new crop of welterweight fighters that are looking to supplant the fighters that have enjoyed a stranglehold on the division for the last few years. Penn may not be one of those fighters, but he is very much one of the “old guard.” Although losing to “Ares” should never be considered embarrassing, it would be enough to cause Penn to remove himself from the cage on a permanent basis.
As a fight that could potentially take place at UFC 152 in Toronto, Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn could create a buzz just based on the names involved. It’s a classic story: A young stud versus an eventual Hall of Famer in a fight with repercussions that could affect both of their careers for a long time. Although the UFC has not formally announced this bout, they probably will, as this is a big fight whose appeal can not be denied. No matter who wins — the Prodigy or the Prospect — what is for sure is that the eyes of UFC fans will be focused upon them.
