Jason MacDonald

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 UFC Career
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald (born June 3, 1975) is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt.

He stands 6 ft. 3 in. (191 cm) tall and fights in the middleweight divison (185 lbs.).

MacDonald is a vetearn of the UFC and other smaller promotions such as King Of The Cage and TKO. He currently fights as a middleweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

Jason MacDonald made his professional mixed martial arts debut for the Punch and Crunch organization on December 18, 1999. He faced and submitted opponent, Ken Manderson via armbar in the first round.

MacDonald finished his next seven fights by way of submission with notable victories over future UFC competitor Bill Mahood and future PRIDE competitor, Shannon Ritch.

On May 31, 2003, MacDonald suffered his first professional defeat when he went down by TKO in a rematch with Bill Mahood in the second round in a bout held by the MFC promotion.

Just under two months later, MacDonald got back on track with a rear naked choke submission victory over Ulysses Castro.

After defeating Antony Rea via submission (scarf hold armlock) in May of 2004, MacDonald suffered a four fight losing streak with all fighters being either future or current UFC competitors.

During that four fight losing streak he suffered an armbar defeat to Matt Horwich, a split decision loss to Jason Brilz, a decision loss to Marvin Eastman, and another decision loss to "Mr. International" Shonie Carter.

The worrying streak was broken in September of 2005, when MacDonald submitted Chris Fontaine with a rear naked choke at an MFC event. A little over a month later, MacDonald picked up the biggest victory of his career to date when he submitted tested and respected UFC competitor, Joe Doerksen via fourth round rear naked choke.

MacDonald dropped his next two bouts to two more future UFC fighters in TUF 3's Kalib Starnes (TKO) and TUF 4's Patrick Cote (5th round rear naked choke).

By September 8, 2006, MacDonald had pushed his record to 16-7 with three straight victories which included another TUF 4 contestant in Gideon Ray.

UFC Career

On October 10, 2006, MacDonald faced off against TUF 3 runner-up, Ed Herman in his first bout for the UFC. Herman was highly favored going into the bout, but MacDonald quickly showed he was the superior fighter as he forced Herman to tap with a triangle choke at the 2:43 mark of round 1. MacDonald picked up "Submission of the Night" honors for his performance.

At the UFC's year end and biggest show for 2006, UFC 66, MacDonald faced off against another TUF veteran in TUF 1's Chris Leben on the main card. MacDonald was once again the underdog heading in and looked to be having trouble with Leben's stand-up for the majority of the first two rounds. However, that was rendered redundant after MacDonald latched onto a guillotine choke which he forced Leben to tap to at 4:03 of the second round. The submission earned MacDonald him in his second "Submission of the Night" in as many performances.

At UFC 68, MacDonald was given the biggest test of his career when he was matched up against former UFC middleweight champion, Rich Franklin. MacDonald was simply overwhelmed and after two rounds of abuse the fight was called to a halt by his corner.

A TKO over TUF 3's Rory Singer at UFC 72 was followed by a unanimous decision defeat to top middleweight contender, Yushin Okami on the undercard of UFC 77.

On April 19, 2008, MacDonald was given a chance to fight in front of a Canadian audience in the first UFC card ever to be held in Canada, UFC 83. MacDonald faced off against Joe Doerksen on the undercard in a rematch from their 2005 bout. In a tight first round that saw both fighters on the verge of being finished with submissions, that was followed however by a quick and decisive second round that saw MacDonald send Doerksen unconscious with vicious elbows on the ground. The TKO earned MacDonald "Knockout of the Night" honors.

MacDonald made his return to the main card of a UFC pay-per-view at UFC 87 when he faced off against highly decorated Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, Demian Maia. In an excellent fight, MacDonald surprisingly challenged Maia's jiu jitsu game with his own and although he impressed was eventually out manouevered by the superior grappler, losing via rear naked choke in the third round.

Disappointed by his performance against Maia, MacDonald quickly accepted a fight as a replacement for Jason Day against Jason Lambert at UFC 88. MacDonald got back into the winning column as he submitted Lambert with a rear naked choke in the second round, picking up the "Submission of the Night" award in the process.

At The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale, MacDonald's UFC record dipped to 5-4 when submitted to strikes from Wilson Gouveia in the first round.

MacDonald returned to his country of Canada in April of 2009, when he was matched up against TUF 1's Nate Quarry at UFC 97. MacDonald again showed his susceptibility to a good ground and pound attack as he was stopped in the first round from a multitude of Quarry elbows from within his guard.

Following the loss, MacDonald was released from his UFC contract.