The former Bellator welterweight champion and longtime UFC prospect announced his retirement Sunday, one day after suffering a first-round TKO loss to Dilano Taylor in the 2022 PFL semifinals. MacDonald, 33, broke the news via Instagram. “It’s time for me to hang up for good,” MacDonald wrote. “I’m so grateful for this sport and every person I’ve gotten to meet along the way. “I started this sport as a 14-year-old kid, I still remember my first day and knowing that this is what I want to spend my life doing. Passion for martial arts and becoming a professional MMA fighter gave me hope and a way to a better life! And I am so thankful to God that he put this Toshido MMA gym in kelowna in my path. It really changed the direction of my life and saved me! “What an adventure this career has been, 17 years of professional fighting. Everything came and went so fast! So many painful trainings etched into my being, traveling to all parts of the planet and meeting so many people. “I learned so much about myself through this career, not all of it good. And I’ve made so many mistakes along the way, but here I am 33 years a better person because of those mistakes, which I’m very grateful to have grown up with.” MacDonald went on to thank the fans for their support, as well as the UFC, Bellator and the PFL. Making his debut in 2005, MacDonald quickly emerged as one of the hottest prospects in his native Canada, starting his career 10-0. He eventually took his talents to Montreal’s Tristar Gym, where he trained alongside UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. MacDonald joined the UFC in 2010, where he won eight of his first 10 fights, including a dominant decision victory over future welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. The “Red King” held the UFC 170-pound title at UFC 189 in July 2015, where he lost by fifth-round TKO to Robbie Lawler in one of the greatest fights in MMA history. In 2017, MacDonald signed with Bellator and captured a welterweight title beating Douglas Lima in just his second fight for the promotion. He successfully defended his belt twice before giving it back to Lima in the finals of a grand prix tournament. MacDonald also unsuccessfully challenged Gegard Mousasi for the Bellator Middleweight Championship. The final leg of MacDonald’s career came with the PFL. He signed with the league in 2019, but failed to recapture his previous success, going just 2-4 including a stunning loss to Taylor that was the final fight of his career.
