Rory MacDonald did not inspire much confidence in his future as champion with his latest performance.
MacDonald retained his 170-pound title and advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator MMA welterweight grand prix in a majority draw with Jon Fitch in the Bellator 220 main event on Saturday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Judge Anthony Maness saw it 48-46 for Fitch, while Ron McCarthy and Mike Bell each struck 47-47 scorecards.
Despite meeting with early adversity, Fitch was relentless. He shut down MacDonald with takedowns, positional control and ground-and-pound in the third round, where he started the process of grinding his way to the finish line.