Rory MacDonald Says He Won’t Get Title Shot, Lawler vs. Hendricks III Likely

By John Heinis on Thursday, December 18th 2014
Rory MacDonald Says He Won’t Get Title Shot, Lawler vs. Hendricks III Likely

Top UFC welterweight contender Rory MacDonald says that UFC officials have told him he will not get the next crack at UFC gold, meaning a trilogy fight between champ Robbie Lawler and ex-titleholder Johny Hendricks is likely in the works.

MacDonald told UFC Tonight’s Ariel Helwani on Wednesday that he would not get the next title shot at 170 pounds, though he is not going to get frustrated by the promotion’s decision.

"It's all good. I'm just gonna light up whoever is next. Like always," MacDonald said.

The TriStar gym standout is currently ranked No. 2 in the UFC’s official rankings is currently riding a three-fight win streak over notable fellow contenders Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley and Tarec Saffiedine.

As a matter of fact, his only loss since June 2010 is to Lawler, who he lost a close split decision to at UFC 167 in November of last year.

“The Ruthless” one captured the title from Hendricks at UFC 181 earlier this month, earning a hotly-contested decision as most pundits felt that “Bigg Rigg” had won at least three rounds of the championship bout.

Hendricks won the vacant welterweight title against Lawler at UFC 171 in March, in what was another competitive, 25-minute slugfest.

Shockingly, the top welterweight contender is just 1-2 in his past three fights, though his losses were debatable close calls against longtime titleholder Georges St-Pierre and Lawler.

Lawler recently said that he wanted to take some time off and was not interested in fighting until the UFC’s annual Memorial Day pay-per-view card.  

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